


The Littlest Whaler

by Kairyn



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, My First Work in This Fandom, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other Tags Missing to Avoid Spoilers, Past Child Abuse, Rape Recovery, Underage Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-08-28 11:41:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8444464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairyn/pseuds/Kairyn
Summary: On a routine job, Daud comes across something horrible. He might be an assassin but there were things that were simply not acceptable. Hurting defenseless children was definitely not acceptable. Of course, now that he's saved the kid what exactly was he supposed to do with him? Most of the warnings above are specifically for the situation that Daud comes across in the first chapter and won't appear after that. The Littlest Whaler character, by the way, is not an OC. But who it is, you'll have to guess.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am so incredibly hyped for Dishonored 2... I can't even. I've been replaying Dishonored so much lately because of it and this came spilling out despite the fact that I should be working on other things.

The estate of Lord Puttock was as sumptuous and overblown as one might expect. Daud hated it on principle mostly. It was four stories and sprawled out in several different directions. All the carpets were dyed deep rich colors and the paintings hanging from the walls were huge. The dark wood panels of the walls looked to be hand carved and there were dozens of display cases with expensive artifacts and sculptures sitting there uselessly. There were several hunting dogs outside in the kennels though Daud doubted that Puttock himself did all that much hunting. He seemed to simply acquire things that people expected rich Lords to have. Daud had been watching and the overweight man hadn’t done anything but pester his maids and complain if his expensive tastes weren’t met.

Puttock was a rather minor force in the senate but he seemed to think he was more important than he really was. He liked to put on airs and that was terribly clear in his house. Daud nearly rolled his eyes at the sight of a portrait of the man larger than life and hanging in the front room where everyone was forced to see it. How incredibly droll. Daud almost snorted at the thought that had sounded far too much like a certain black-eyed God. Clearly, he really had needed to get out if his inner thoughts were beginning to sound like the Outsider.

Daud had been hired to kill Lord Puttock and steal an important document from his safe in the second floor office. Apparently, in order to get some of the obnoxiously expensive things decorating his estate, Puttock had resorted to blackmail. But, he’d chosen a target that hadn’t taken kindly to it at all. Daud had already decided to go for the document first as he’d have to crack the safe to do it. It shouldn’t be too difficult he didn’t think, just a bit time consuming.

The Master Assassin made his way from the open window on the first floor, which had been his entrance, to the staircase. It was easy enough to sneak past the very few guards that were around. He pocketed a few expensive looking pieces of art that he passed along the way. It was easy enough to do and he never said no to a little extra payment for his troubles.

Daud barely glanced around the floor for any sign of people, since it was so late at night he hadn’t worried too much, but he should probably double check. Sure enough, there wasn’t any sign of people on this floor at all so he turned all of his attention to the first of his two tasks. Normally, he’d have sent one of the others to handle this sort of a task, as it was so simple, but he had been getting rather twitchy all cooped up in their hideout and this was a simple enough job that he knew it would ease his cabin fever without being annoyingly dangerous. 

It took some time but Daud managed to break into the safe with the obnoxiously idiotic code of ‘123’, which he had found on a note in the Lord’s desk. Really. What sort of idiot…

Daud pushed the thought away and grabbed some money from the safe and the various papers. He checked through to make sure the specific document he wanted was indeed in the group. It was and he was about to leave it at that when a page with a torn edge caught his eye under several of the other pages. It was as if someone had written several pages in a journal and then torn them out when they suddenly realized they shouldn’t be writing it, although why they wouldn’t then burn it, Daud had no idea. Nobles were really very stupid most of the time, much to Daud’s benefit.

Curious, Daud pulled the pages out of the pile to quickly skim the contents. It was indeed a journal page. Daud couldn’t help the noise of disgust escape his throat as he read the words.

_\- he truly is a pretty thing although he still refuses to talk. The pirates said he hadn’t said a word since they had gotten him, so I haven’t yet even found out his name, but I know I will eventually. He seems around seven and truly is a delight, even the others agree with me on it. They are all quite jealous, of course, since they could only hope to have such a beauty near at hand. I would have of course preferred it if the damnable pirates hadn’t sampled him first but at least they gave me a discount on him because of it. It’s really too bad he won’t stay so adorable but at the very least he’ll still have a job when he gets older. I suppose he’ll be a pretty enough whore to get work at the Golden Cat. A true pity they don’t stay yo-_

Daud stopped reading and crumpled the papers in his hand. And people called him a heartless monster. Apparently, Lord Puttock was a pedophile on top of a blackmailer and overall unpleasant in court. Daud activated his Void Gaze and spent more time looking through the walls and floors of the house then the initial cursory glance. He nearly vomited when he realized Lord Puttock had a child of his own sleeping several floors above. He’d ‘bought’ a child to rape so that he didn’t harm his own child. As if that made him any less of a monster. He still raped children. Then Daud spotted the rather distinctive hunch on the floor above him. His fist clenched and he made his way up the stairs. He had to kill the man anyway and now he was sure he’d enjoy it far more. 

He blinked away the Void Gaze as he approached the section of wall that was cracked open. There probably wasn’t a way to open the secret room from the inside so it had to be left open, Daud realized. The wall had a large painting of a hunting dog and his prize on it. Daud grasped the golden frame to pull the wall it was attached to open a little further. He already heard the distinctive and nauseating sound of flesh slapping flesh and a high-pitched crying.

Daud would _definitely_ enjoy this.

He stepped into the cramped doorway and scowled at the sight of the overweight Lord with his pants around his ankles and practically squashing a much smaller form. The Master Assassin wasted no time in grabbing the large man and wrenching him off the boy. Lord Puttock tried to protest and struggle but then froze at the sword across his throat. 

Daud risked a glance down at the boy and his scowl darkened even more. He was, like Puttock’s journal said, probably only about seven and obviously foreign born. His olive skin was marred by a variety of bruises and scrapes and it was far too easy to see what he’d been made to endure. The mark of a prostitute had been scorched into the boy’s left inner hip, a mark that no child should ever see much less have permanently etched into him. True prostitutes weren’t even branded like that. Only those forced into the ‘profession’ were. The boy’s brown eyes were distant and watery with tears and his wavy hair was a tangle across the stained pillow. Slowly, the boy blinked and seemed to realize what had happened. He pushed himself up on thin arms and moved back towards the wall.

“You like hurting little boys?” Daud hissed to the Lord. Puttock just blubbered and seemed unable to come up with a response. Daud didn’t have the patience to deal with such scum. His sword flashed in the dim light and first sliced off the man’s prick before stabbing him through the chest. He muffled the man’s noises as he allowed the Lord to slowly bleed to death. He hadn’t wanted it to be quick. The monster hadn’t deserved quick.

The boy curled up in the corner and seemed unable to take his eyes off his rapist as he slowly bled to death. Daud watched the boy carefully before dropping the man’s body to the ground. The boy was still staring at his abuser as Daud wiped the blood off his sword and the crouched down. “You’re safe now,” he said in the most comforting tone he could manage with the gruffness of his voice. 

Those huge brown eyes slowly moved up to Daud and the assassin tried to read understanding in them. He didn’t see any. He hoped that it was just the boy couldn’t speak Gristol and not something more complicated like being addled in some way. The boy looked to be Serkonian, so Daud switched to Serkonian. He hadn’t spoken it in a long time but he wasn’t likely to forget his own first language. “He can’t hurt you anymore.” This time there was a slight flicker of understanding in the boy’s eyes but he still didn’t respond or move from where he was huddled in the corner. Daud tried to be patient but he really needed to move on. Hanging around an assassinated target was a bad idea. But it wasn’t as if he could leave the kid. He held out a hand to the boy. “I’ll take you somewhere safe,” he promised.

He still didn’t move but his eyes drifted to the body again. Daud forcibly stepped in front of it. “He’s dead. Nobody will touch you like that again. I promise,” he said firmly. “I’ll kill them if they even think it.”

That got the boy’s eyes back up. There were several long minutes of silence before the boy moved away from the corner and slowly took Daud’s hand. Daud tried to smile but it probably wasn’t reassuring and he felt very out of practice with it. “What’s your name?” he asked as he deliberately picked the boy up despite him being a bit too big for it and carried him over the blood pool to the house beyond the little prison he’d been held within. Again, he got no answer. Daud frowned some as he put the boy down again and wrapped his dirty and bruised body in his own large red coat. It was at least something. The boy clutched at the folds of the coat and looked entirely too lost. Daud couldn’t exactly blame him. The poor kid was clearly traumatized. 

Daud sighed and rubbed the back of his head. What the hell was he supposed to do with him anyway? The orphanages in Dunwall were hit or miss most times and if anyone at the Abbey saw that horrid brand on him he’d be brought in to be ‘saved’, which was the absolutely last thing a traumatized boy needed to deal with on top of everything else. Plus, if Daud was right, he didn’t speak Gristol or at least not well. There weren’t too many options. He couldn’t exactly assume that the boy wanted to be an assassin but at the very least they could raise him up a bit and teach him the language a bit better. It was better than dropping him off somewhere and telling him good luck. That would get the boy into another bad situation. “Well, I need to call you something,” Daud muttered. If he was going to bring him back to Headquarters they would need some sort of name for the kid.

Daud’s eyes landed on the large painting of the hunt again. The boy was clearly Serkonian but he really knew nothing about him personally other than he had suffered through hell. The painted eyes of the dead bird in the dog’s mouth seemed to stare at him and he shivered for some reason. Perhaps they were too black and cold like some other eyes he knew. Daud shook his head to bring his attention back to the problem at hand. “We can come up with something later, or you can tell us what your name is yourself once you’re feeling up to it.” The boy swallowed hard but then nodded a little. Daud tried the smiling thing again. Probably failed just as badly. “Alright then. Let’s just get out of here. Maybe the others will have a name for you that you like.”

Daud scooped up the boy, coat and all, into his arms and headed for the nearby windows. “This is probably going to feel strange but just hold onto me. I won’t let you fall,” he promised as he summoned up his powers. The boy held tighter to Daud’s shoulders as the assassin began to make his way back through the Estate District. He didn’t even make a sound at the odd powers that Daud displayed but the assassin noted immediately he clung tighter.


	2. Chapter 2

Normally, Daud did his best to take scenic routes to where his group of assassins holed up, but this time he decided to just transverse there in the shortest route possible. He was nervous about leading the Watch or Lord Protector to them but the kid he was carrying really needed medical attention. Caution would have to wait for now. The kid still didn’t say anything, even as Daud carried him into the ruined and abandoned building that the Whalers were using currently as a headquarters. What with their last base being found this old block of townhouses had been the best they could find. It was only temporary of course, but it was the best they could do on short notice. Daud already had others looking for a more suitable arrangement. 

Daud flicked his hand to the side, and another Whaler appeared although he seemed to have been in mid-conversation. “-and they jus… Daud. What happened?” He recovered to the shock of no longer being where he had been fairly quickly, but it wasn’t exactly the first time he’d been summoned either. 

Daud gestured to the boy sitting on the nearest bed with the overly large red coat still wrapped around him. “I found him in Puttock’s house,” Daud explained. “He needs some medical treatment, Rulfio. See to it.”

Rulfio blinked and looked down at the boy. It didn’t take him more than a moment to realize he wasn’t wearing anything under his boss’ distinctive coat. “I see. I’ll take care of him.” He wasn’t exactly a medical professional, but he had a somewhat decent idea of what he was doing. And if Daud wanted him to see to it personally who was Rulfio to argue? The boss was probably just trying to limit the number of new faces the kid had to adjust to.

Daud nodded and was about to leave when the boy grabbed hold of him tightly. He frowned some and looked down at his hand, which was clutched between two much smaller ones. “You’ll be okay here with Rulfio,” Daud said as patiently as possible. This wasn’t the first kid to cling to him so desperately, but it never failed to test his patience and very few of the others had been quite so bad off, to begin with. They were all at least talking when he found them. The boy still didn’t let go of Daud’s hand though he didn’t look up either. Daud stood there for several minutes before sighing and moving back beside the bed.

The boy still didn’t seem convinced though and kept a grip on Daud’s hand. Rulfio decided the best course of action was to just patch the lad up and not comment on how his boss was essentially being kept hostage. Rulfio had his work cut out for him trying to treat the boy. Daud could tell because every time Rulfio tried, the boy began to shake and his grip on Daud’s hand tightened near the point of pain. It was surprising from a boy who had clearly been through hell to be able to put out that much strength. “Calm down,” Daud chided lightly. “He’s only going to treat your wounds.”

Rulfio waited patiently until the boy reluctantly nodded. Of course, even given permission to treat the kid didn’t mean that he didn’t stiffen and try to shy away. Rulfio worked as slowly as he could to try and keep the kid calm, but there was only so much that he could really do. He had to see the injuries if he was going to do anything about them. Not that it turned out to be much he _could_ do. A lot of the injuries just had to heal on their own. Bruises couldn’t be fixed, and internal injuries couldn’t be treated without tormenting the boy further, which Rulfio was reluctant to do although he did for the worst of it. “So what’s his name?” Rulfio asked to break the tension as best he could. The boy was crying, and it tore at him despite it not changing the fact that he _had_ to do this.

“Don’t know. He hasn’t said anything,” Daud answered as he deliberately did not look at what Rulfio was doing. He put his free hand over the boy’s head to try and comfort him, but there was little else to do.

“Well, we’ll come up with something to call him,” Rulfio said with a certain amount of forced cheer. “How about Thomas?”

“He doesn’t look a thing like Thomas,” Daud said dryly. “And I doubt Thomas would be as annoyed as you’re thinking he would be.” In fact, the blonde Whaler would probably find it amusing.

“Probably right,” Rulfio said with his voice still deliberately cheerful. 

The conversation lapsed uncomfortably, and Daud found himself wishing for an escape. Finally, though, Rulfio straightened and went to wash off his hands. “There we go. It’s all over. Though he should probably get some rest and some liquids in him.”

Daud nodded and patted the still crying child’s head. “Get him some clothes, Rulfio.” The Whaler nodded and disappeared to find something. Daud sighed and sat down beside the boy, who seemed to have taken that as an invitation and climbed into Daud’s lap to cling to him. Daud had to fight the urge to move the kid off of him. In his mind, though, he urged Rulfio to hurry. Perhaps the kid would fall asleep soon, and Daud could then escape?

Luckily, there were a few other children that Daud had picked up off the streets, and so Rulfio was able to get some of their clothes for the newest stray. Even with the clothes to change into, though, the boy seemed reluctant to let Daud go. It was frustrating, and the Master Assassin was reaching the limit of his patience. “Here, drink this,” Rulfio said, holding a glass out to the boy.

The poor kid didn’t look like he wanted to and glance up at Daud. The leader of the assassins just nodded some and the boy reluctantly took the glass. Trust was going to be an issue it seemed. Still, with Daud saying it was alright, the boy drained the glass surprisingly fast. He was probably hungry too but he, of course, didn’t say anything about it. He still sat in Daud’s lap and clung to the man for nearly ten minutes until Daud noticed him starting to drift. He said nothing and just waited until the boy seemed to fall asleep entirely and then moved him onto the bed. “Figured it wouldn’t be long,” Rulfio murmured. “So I only gave him a small dose to help him get there. Of course, I wasn’t sure he’d take it at all, or I would have given it to him first.”

“Thank you,” Daud said sincerely.

Rulfio nodded. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Not sure. For right now, we’ll get him healthy,” Daud said. “After that, well, we’ll see. I don’t think he knows much Gristol though so that might be a problem.”

“I noticed you were talking Serkonian to him,” Rulfio said. “He won’t survive long if he doesn’t even understand the language.” 

“He won’t last at all if with that brand on him,” Daud said. “Can we remove it?”

Rulfio glared at nothing really. “Yes, but it’ll take a huge chunk of skin with it… it’ll be painful and leave one hell of a scar. I don’t want to do it to a kid. And especially not one that doesn’t even trust me.”

Daud sighed but wasn’t entirely surprised. If it were just a tattoo, he’d suggest covering it up, but no, the bastards had to brand the poor kid. “I want a team to go back and get as much evidence on Puttock as possible,” Daud said as he carefully slipped out from under the boy and then tucked his small form under the bed covers.

“Why? You killed him didn’t you?”

“Of course. It was the job even if he hadn’t been scum,” Daud answered. “But I found a journal entry. Said he bought the boy off pirates and that his ‘friends’ all thought the kid was wonderful,” Daud said with a disgusted sneer. “They all deserve to die too.”

Rulfio was silent for several minutes before nodding. “Right. I take it he’ll be joining the newest class of recruits when he recovers?”

“If he wants,” Daud said as he finally retrieved his coat. “For now it wouldn’t be much use to try and teach him if he can’t even understand us.” Rulfio nodded again. It did make sense after all. Rulfio, although he had a few Serkonan family members, had never bothered really to learn the language. There hadn’t been a need really when everyone in Gristol spoke… well, Gristol. “Stay with him, Rulfio.” The other Whaler nodded a bit in agreement even as Daud left the infirmary.

* * *

"Daud, my old friend."

The Master Assassin tried his best to not let his annoyance be shown on his face despite knowing the familiar whale God would know about it either way. "I should have known you'd show up," he said folding his arms over his chest. He'd been having that sneaking suspicion ever since he noticed how dead and black the eyes of that painted bird was on the Lord's wall were. "What is it this time?" There was always something he wanted. Whenever he showed up Daud found himself in situations he didn't want to be in.

"Why, Daud, how very cynical of you," the Outsider said. "I am only here because your actions today are very... fascinating to me."

"I've picked up kids before," Daud pointed out with a frown. He'd never shown up in Daud's dreams for any of the others.

"True," the God conceded. "But none quite like this one. None that have been so damaged and yet still hold so much potential. There are so many _possibilities_ and it is your actions that will determine which road he goes down in the end. I'm very interested in watching and seeing how you'll shape events to come."

Daud scowled darkly. Nothing good ever came of an 'interested' Outsider. 

The floating islands of the Void hung there in the foggy blue distance, and the whale silhouette hung there unmoving. Daud couldn't help but wonder what was so special about his newest 'stray' as the others called it. 'Potential' was one thing, but the Outsider hadn't ever shown up to talk about say, Thomas's potential. No, this was decidedly new. Daud looked up at the Outsider, who was still hanging there looking entirely unaffected. "I don't suppose that means you'll tell me anything about him then?"

"Now, Daud, where would be the fun in that?" the Outsider asked, his voice not quite reaching what Daud would call a real emotion. 

Of course, not surprising, but a little annoying. "Will you at least tell me what these 'paths' for him are? Seems only fair if I'm going to be choosing which one he goes down." Daud hated walking into things blind, and if this kid was going to end up worse off because of him, he'd really rather know now. 

The Outsider made a show of pretending to be surprised. "Daud, you will not choose anything but your own actions," he said lightly. "It is your own actions that will shape who he becomes. He is one of the few in this world that could quite easily be anything. His path splinters into hundreds some of which are far less interesting than others."

"Anything," Daud echoed disbelievingly. In his experience, street kids really could only do a few things. Break the law to survive or scrape by trying and only half succeeding to survive like a normal citizen.

"Oh yes," the Outsider said with a smile that, of course, did nothing to warm the black depths of his eyes. "Everything from an assassin to dead to rotting in prison for most of his life and even, possibly, an Overseer or a simple sailor. Those are, of course, only a few out of hundreds."

Daud frowned at the thought of the kid ending up a zealous Overseer. He supposed if there was anything that did justify going to them it would be some sort of childhood trauma but Daud didn't like the idea of the kid being swallowed up by the Abbey of the Everyman. He didn't save the kid for him to end up brainwashed. "And, I take it I get no hints at all as to what makes him which one? Those 'different paths' were all wildly different from each other."

The Outsider leaned forward slightly. "If you knew which of your choices send him down which paths this would be far less amusing. I will, however, give you this piece of advice, Daud. Even if he becomes something you do not approve of, someone who hunts you down for my mark on your hand, he will excel in it. He will always excel, you're just guiding what he'll excel _at_. It is not his skill you need shape but rather his morals. It will be quite fascinating seeing you trying to shape another's character."

Daud was about to demand to know what exactly _that_ meant when he woke up. He sat up and scowled at his blanket. The Outsider made it sound like he had no morals at all! He had morals. They were just more flexible than most. No shame in that. It kept him alive. And then that so called 'advice' which wasn't advice at all. Daud knew that the Outsider was a very bored God, hence all the watching and talk of interesting people. But really, he got far too much enjoyment out of visiting to say precisely _nothing_ helpful.

Was it really that entertaining to watch Daud flounder about in confusion? It must be since the Outsider popped in to be enigmatic for seemingly only that reason. Not for the first time, Daud wondered if the Outsider really saw all these 'possibilities' and such or if he just said he did to cause others to get all worried and flustered. He wouldn't put either option past the black-eyed bastard.

The Master Assassin sighed and let himself drop back to his bed to stare at the ceiling. Though the Outsider seemed to think there was something special about Daud's newest stray he hadn't given really enough information to do anything with. The poor boy was still injured, traumatized, and in for a very rough time. Daud would have his hands full just getting through to the lad enough to get a name from him. Besides, it wasn't entirely fair, Daud didn't think, to heap expectations upon the boy just because the Outsider decided to play the vague destiny game.

There was a knock on Daud's door, and he raised his head to see Rulfio standing there. "Rulfio. What time is it?"

"Late," the Whaler said simply. "But the kid woke up, and we're having a bit of trouble with him. I thought I should come and get you."

Daud frowned. "Trouble how?"

Rulfio sighed a bit and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "He's... hiding," he answered awkwardly. "We can't get anywhere near him without him kicking and crying. Doesn't scream, which is almost worse, but I'm afraid if we try and pull him out of his hiding spot then he'll have a real fit."

"Where is he hiding?" Daud asked as he got to his feet and pushed his hair back.

"Last time I checked? Under the bed. But he might not be there anymore. When I first noticed him hiding he was behind the door," Rulfio explained. "Pretty clever of him, actually. If I hadn't noticed his bed was empty and just walked in he would have been able to slip by and get out."

Daud frowned and remembered the closet-sized space the boy had been imprisoned in. It had barely been big enough for the mattress on the floor and a single table to hold a washbasin. "Behind the door was the only place he could hide," Daud muttered in realization. Rulfio didn't say anything but Daud could see how tight the other man's jaw became.

The two of them walked together in silence to the infirmary. There were a few other Whalers in the hall outside, and they seemed to be torn between looking into the room and wanting to give the boy inside the privacy he obviously wanted. Daud knew that they probably didn't mean any harm, but he doubted they were helping matters. "Alright, go back to what you should be doing," Daud commanded them. The sound of the Void signaled their quick transversals away as Daud entered the room. He didn't hear anything or even see anything. Rulfio nodded towards the bed but otherwise leaned against the wall beside the door to allow Daud to handle it.

The leader of the Whalers sighed some and moved over to the bed. Daud still didn't see or even hear the boy, but he trusted Rulfio knew where his own charge was. Daud crouched down and peered under the bed. It only took a moment to find the pair of watery brown eyes staring out at him from behind a pair of scraped knees. The boy was pressed as tightly as he could possibly be to the wall and curled up so small that Daud couldn't even see his torso. He extended a hand but didn't try to grab the boy. "Come out from there. You're safe here. I promised, didn't I?"

The kid stared for a few heartbeats before nodding. He still didn't reach out to take Daud's hand, though. Again, Daud found his patience tested. "It can't be comfortable under there. Just come out, and I'll sit with you for a while," he promised. It wasn't as if Daud was feeling all that tired after that visit from the Outsider anyway. 

Slowly, the boy crawled out from under the bed though he stayed curled up close to the wall. Daud pulled the blanket off of the bed and cautiously wrapped it around the boy's thin shoulders. He clung to the edges of the fabric and stared at the floor with those huge sad eyes of his. Daud sat with him in silence for several minutes and tried to think up something to say. But really, what was there to say? I'm sorry was just... woefully inadequate. As was saying something as banally pandering as 'it'll be alright'. Telling the boy that he was going to hunt down those that hurt him was a bit better but he didn't know how well the kid would handle hearing such news. Would he even want to think about something like that? Daud doubted it. The wounds were still far too fresh most likely.

The silence between them stretched on for a good hour before Daud glanced over at the boy again. He was still staring at the floor, but the tears had dried up thankfully. Daud didn't think he'd be able to handle too much more of the boy's tears. "I know you're scared," Daud said softly. That got the boy to look up from the ground at least. Daud faltered in what he'd finally thought to say at the sight of those eyes that were far too old already. He cleared his throat a little. "I was taken from my home too," he murmured. He didn't often talk about this, but he felt like the kid needed to know that Daud did understand. At least a bit. "I was older than you are now but it was still frightening. I can't imagine how much worse it is for you."

The boy's eyes moved over Daud's face slowly, as if searching for even the tiniest glimmer of if it was the truth or not. Daud was a bit uncomfortable by the close scrutiny but allowed it. "So, I do understand you're scared and can't trust us," Daud said. "But hiding isn't going to make that fear go away. It's only going to make you more afraid."

Daud mentally cursed as the boy hunched over further, obviously not taking the observation well. That hadn't been what Daud meant to do. "Hiding isn't going to help but that's not the only thing you can do," he said quickly. "You can learn how to protect yourself. I can teach you how. And, until you get strong enough to protect yourself, I'll be here to keep you safe instead."

That, at least, got the boy looking up again. Daud wanted to shift uncomfortably but managed to restrain himself. He refused to allow a kid's stare to make him uneasy. "If you're tired of being scared, I can help you. But you have to try and stop hiding from us. Trust us to keep you safe for now and before you know it you'll be able to keep yourself safe," Daud promised. He'd seen it often enough where the strays he brought in went from being the weakest and easiest to push around to some of the most competent fighters in the city. He didn't doubt this one would be any different. He just had to unlearn the frightened behavior he'd developed. It would take time -because it always did- but the effort would be well worth it.

As was now entirely expected, the boy said nothing at all in response. But he did look away towards the floor again. Daud had no earthly idea what was going through the boy's head but he wasn't going to worry about it. Deciding to trust them wasn't going to be something the kid decided on a whim. Life had taught him to not trust so easily. Daud knew he was only given leeway because he had taken the boy out of the horrible prison he'd been stuck in. He was still a far way away from what might be considered progress with the boy. And his Whalers were even further away.

Still, they were nothing if not a determined group. They would make their progress one step at a time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting these chapters out pretty fast aren't I? Although this one is a bit shorter than the last. Like I said... super hyped for Dishonored 2. As I'm sure we all are...

It took nearly a week for the boy to fully heal and throughout that entire week he refused to let anyone near him if Daud wasn't also there. He was clinging to the Master Assassin far more than any of the other street kids Daud rescued ever did, but that also wasn't too surprising considering the circumstances. Rulfio seemed to be the only other person that could get relatively close to the boy, probably because he'd been the one to tend all of the boy's wounds. Daud had rather hoped that would help the kid to trust Rulfio since that would be who would train the boy once he was in some condition to be trained. He was glad it had paid off so well.

Of course, the next obvious hurdle was that the kid didn't seem to understand anything but the most basic Gristol words and phrases. It would take some time to make sure that he knew enough to understand what he was being told. Time, unfortunately, that Daud couldn't devote to the boy. There was just far too many other things for him to do to also teach the boy the language himself although few besides Daud himself was fluent in Serkonian. It made things awkward and Daud hoped that the boy turned out to be a fast learner for everyone's sakes. 

"You'll be staying here," Rulfio said to the boy who was mostly hiding behind the adult Whaler. Now that he was healed, there was no reason for the kid to be in the infirmary. Daud had ordered him moved to the bunk that the rest of the youngest members of the Whalers stayed. The kid obviously hadn't wanted to go but had followed Rulfio with his customary silence since Daud had been the one to tell him to go. Rulfio was beginning to wonder if the boy could actually talk at all.

The boy peered out from behind Rulfio at the room. It had six bunk beds in it and several lockers against one wall. Sitting on two of the lower beds were kids only a few years older than the newest stray. They looked over immediately. "Master Rulfio." That came from the one with sandy curls and more than his fair share of freckles.

"This is our newest recruit," Rulfio said stepping to the side so that the kid had little choice but to be exposed. "Make sure he's looked after, yeah?"

The freckled boy jumped off the bed and hurried forward to stop in front of Rulfio's newest charge. "Hey there! I'm Pavel," he said with a rather wide grin. When the newest scrap just stared and didn't answer, however, Pavel's smile faded a bit. Pavel, as well as the girl he'd been playing cards with, turned to look up at Rulfio.

"He doesn't speak much Gristol yet," Rulfio excused. 

"Well, what's his name then?" the girl asked curiously.

Rulfio frowned a bit. He had rather hoped he wouldn't be asked this question as nobody in the entire week had come up with a suitable answer for it. And since the kid still wasn't telling, they were at a bit of an impasse. But they couldn't go around just calling him 'kid' all the time. Well, they probably could but it was getting a bit awkward. The kid didn't seem to mind but they would need something better once they started training him. "We, uh, we don't know."

"Don't know?" Pavel echoed. "What're we supposed to call him then?"

"Just... make up a nickname for him!" Rulfio said with a bit of annoyance. This should really be Daud's decision anyway, Rulfio figured. He was the one that found the kid. He shouldn't be saddled with this sort of thing. "Like with Dodge!"

The girl scowled. "Dodge is my name!"

"Anyway, just look after him while he's here," Rulfio said, blithely ignoring the girl's protest and shoving the newest of them forward a few steps. The kid looked about ready to bolt and Rulfio really hoped that leaving him here didn't turn out to be a horrible idea.

The three kids exchanged uneasy looks as Rulfio took the very dignified approach and fled. Pavel reached up to scratch the back of his head uneasily. "Well, uh, what do you want to be called then?" Pavel asked.

There was no answer. "He doesn't speak Gristol, remember?" Dodge asked in annoyance as she jumped off the bed and walked over to where they were standing. "I wonder where he's from..."

The newest glanced between them with wide brown eyes and took two steps back. "I think you're scaring him, Dodge," Pavel whispered.

"I am not. If anything's scaring him it's your ugly mug," Dodge said haughtily. "You scare the wolfhounds."

"I do not!"

As the two young Whalers dissolved nearly instantly into an argument, the youngest scrap took the chance to slip away. He found a window that had a fire escape outside of it and silently climbed out onto it. He'd rather be alone rather than with those two loud kids that seemed far too energetic for him right now. He looked around and saw lots of large buildings that were plastered with large painted advertisements and big posters. 

He had never really seen big buildings before. He'd caught some glimpses of them when he'd been taken but hadn't had a chance to really get a good look. He curled up in the corner of the fire escape and glanced up at the cloudy sky. He missed the sun but the whole time he'd been here with Daud he hadn't barely seen any sunlight at all. It was always cloudy and gloomy.

There was a strange noise and he leaned forward to look down for the source. It was one of the mechanical carriages that were powered with those cylinders of glowing... whatever it was. Oil or something? He wasn't sure but he thought that was what he heard it called. The town he was from didn't have that many machines that needed fuel like that and they hadn't been rich enough to be worried about it anyway.

He wasn't sure how long he was sitting out there watching the street below but he suddenly heard shouting from behind him. He blinked and looked back inside the window to see the two other kids looking around frantically. He just slipped back into his spot in the corner of the fire escape. He didn't really want to get involved in whatever they were doing. Maybe it was some weird game? He didn't really feel like playing, plus he wouldn't understand it most likely.

There was still activity down below so the stray turned his attention to watching. Several people were walking by but none of them were in the rich clothes of the ones that visited him in that room. Most of them looked pretty miserable and cold, which was understandable as it was just starting to drizzle. He glanced up at the clouds even as droplets grew slightly fatter and heavier. He was only partially sheltered by the rest of the fire escape but he didn't mind that. It was only rain after all. He'd always rather liked rain back home... although there it usually wasn't so cold.

Slowly, he became wetter and his hair started to become plastered to his head. He was getting a little cold from sitting out in the rain so long but he didn't want to go inside yet either. It wasn't so bad really. He blinked some water off of his eyelashes and just continued to sit there silently.

Suddenly there was a whisper of a sound and Daud was standing over him with a frown. He was blocking the drizzle with how he was standing and his red coat had darkened a few shades from being wet. Water was dripping down his face and his hair was mussed. "There you are. You shouldn't sneak off without telling someone," he said with his arms crossed over his chest.

The young scrap blinked in confusion. How was he supposed to do that? Nobody would have understood him. Daud stared down at him for another few minutes before sighing heavily. Daud held a gloved hand out. "Come on in, you're soaked. You don't need to go around getting sick after you just got patched up."

There was a moment's hesitation before the boy took Daud's hand and allowed the Master Assassin to help him up out of his crouched position. "How long have you been sitting out here anyway?" Daud asked as he brought the boy back inside through the window. He made a mental note to let the sentries know that the kid had stumbled upon a blind spot in their perimeter. 

No answer came to Daud's question but then he was getting used to that. "Master Daud! You found him!" Pavel said, nearly bounding across the room as they came in through the window.

"We're sorry!" Dodge said, also hurrying over. "We didn't notice when he left. We'll keep a better eye on him. Promise!"

"It's alright," Daud said as the still unnamed boy slipped behind Daud's legs. The leader of the Whalers tried his best to not sigh. He knew that the kid would take some time to become comfortable but it _had_ been a week already. Surely the kid knew by now that nobody here was going to hurt him.

Daud put a hand on his little shadow's thin shoulder and guided him out into the open again. He turned his attention to the boy and switched back to Serkonian. "Now, these two aren't that bad and it's getting close to dinner time. So, stay inside with them for the rest of the night. Alright?" He nodded but Daud wasn't entirely convinced. He definitely seemed to prefer hiding away from people. The kid would score very high on stealth if he ever got that far, Daud thought. Would probably be a good one to send to watch targets and gather information too.

The head Whaler shook his head a little. The kid still had a lot of work to do before they got anywhere near things like assignments and postings. And of course, once he started talking again he might not even want to be a Whaler, which would make all the speculation rather pointless. Daud gave the boy another slight nudge in towards the room and, although he didn’t look happy, the boy moved forward like directed.

After waiting several moments to ensure that the boy would actually stay put this time, Daud left the three youngsters to whatever they were going to get into just before dinner. Daud himself had other things to handle. Word was that the Lord Protector was making sweeps of the city for any evidence of them. Steps would have to be taken to ensure that their people and safe houses weren’t found, which meant a very careful but speedy movement plan. He was not looking forward to it in the least. It meant lots of long hours and tense conversations most likely. That was to say nothing of the money he'd no doubt have to pay out to get things done and keep people quiet.


	4. Chapter 4

The first night outside of the infirmary began a rather distressing precedent. The boy, who was now being called Sneak or Shadow for somewhat obvious reasons, often slipped away when someone wasn’t paying attention to him. He still didn’t like being in the center of things and he still wasn’t talking. Rulfio, who was calling him Pup more than anything else, was getting more than a little frustrated. He was supposed to be teaching the kid things and he could never find him. Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

Usually, if he couldn’t find the Pup hiding on one of the fire escapes, he only had to go looking for Daud or make it known that he was looking for Daud and he’d come across the boy. The kid seemed to always end up nearby Daud’s rooms or Daud himself with an almost disturbing amount of consistency. 

Daud was one to go wandering through the base at seemingly random intervals but the Pup didn’t seem to have any problem keeping track of him. Whether Daud knew about it or not, Rulfio didn’t bother to ask but there didn’t seem to be any stopping the kid from doing it. The other pups near his age were in no way able to keep track of him despite trying their best. The Sneak seemed to have a natural affinity for just not being seen. And he didn’t even have Daud’s Arcane Bond yet. Daud wanted for the Pup to at least be able to speak the language fully before the decision would be reached.

Having misplaced the boy, yet again, Rulfio made his way towards Daud’s rooms. He had hoped that he wouldn’t have to ask their leader about it but there was only so many times he could go searching the place for the slippery little devil before losing his patience.

When he entered the room, Daud didn’t even look up from the reports he was dealing with. “Daud, the Pup’s missing again,” he said. “Rinaldo thought he was with the others downstairs but when I went to go get them he was, of course, gone and nobody could tell me when they last saw him.”

Daud sighed but didn’t look up from his reports. “Is he really so good at sneaking away fully trained Whalers can’t even keep track of him?” he asked, sounding a bit tired.

“Well, apparently so,” Rulfio said with a huff. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to train him if he won’t stick around.”

Daud did look up at that. “So what would you suggest?”

Rulfio leaned back against the wall. “He seems to like you. Maybe if you tell him to let me do my job it’ll help,” he said in an annoyed tone.

“I already have,” Daud said, sounding a little annoyed himself.

“Well, obviously it’s not getting through because he’s never around to get taught anything,” Rulfio complained. “He’s probably somewhere in here now, actually, since he likes to hide near you,” he added looking around.

“I did save him,” Daud muttered. “Perhaps he’s a little… attached.”

“He’s more than a little attached,” Rulfio said. “I think he’s got a full on case of hero worship.”

Daud made a face at that. “That’s not something he needs…”

“You should have another talk with him then,” Rulfio said. “Hey kid! If you’re in here, Daud needs to talk to you!” he nearly shouted into the room.

Daud frowned. “You really think he’s in here?”

Just then there was a slight rustle and the two assassins instantly zeroed in on the noise. It was coming from behind a bookshelf. A head of dark hair peered out from behind the bookcase with wide eyes a little wary. “I’d say that’s a yes,” Rulfio muttered. “You mean you didn’t know he was back there?”

“No,” Daud answered as he got up and made his way over to the bookcase in question. “He must have sneaked back there when I wasn’t in the room.”

The boy moved back some to where he had been sitting fully hidden, and Daud was surprised to see quite a number of books around him. Rulfio peered around the edge of the bookshelf as well and straightened some. “I didn’t know he could read Gristol,” he said in surprise.

“Nor did I,” Daud said as he crouched down. He pulled the nearest book closer and was more than a little surprised and impressed when he saw it was a medical book. It was a fairly basic book but it had words and phrases he didn’t think a child of his age should know in any language much less a language he couldn’t even speak fully. He quickly switched to Serkonian, “You can read this?”

The boy shrugged a little and then pulled another book closer so that Duad could pick it up. It was a similar book to the first but not the same and it was one of the few texts that Daud had that he’d only been able to find written in Serk. It took a few moments before Daud realized the full implications. “You’re teaching yourself to read Gristol.” It was amazing. Far beyond what Daud would have expected from a seven year old. The fact that the kid had even thought to teach himself to read from Daud’s books much less such advanced books was quite simply amazing.

He wasn’t sure how well the Pup would be doing since the books weren’t in fact the same text translated but just putting forth the effort was impressive. The kid must be incredibly intelligent if he thought that he could puzzle out teaching himself things like this. Daud looked up at Rulfio who was looking just as bewildered as Daud himself felt. “He’s teaching himself, see if you or the others can find books in both Serk and Gristol,” he ordered as he handed the two medical books back to the youngster.

“He’s teaching himself? Can he even do that?” Rulfio asked.

“Well, he’s certainly trying,” Daud said. “If he’s made any progress at all then he would have been even more wasted in that life than I thought. He’s far too intelligent.” 

“This Pup’s something else, Daud,” Rulfio said before shaking his head. “I have this feeling he’s only going to get to be more and more of a handful if he’s sneaking away to teach himself to read with your old medical books.”

Daud rolled his eyes. “He probably just grabbed two books that looked similar. I doubt he picked them because they were medical books,” he said. He extended a hand to the Pup. He switched his language again. “Come on, you can read out here beside me.” There was no reason to force the kid to hide away behind a bookshelf. It wasn’t like the kid was loud and distracting. The exact opposite really.

Sneak seemed unsure before he nodded and took Daud’s hand. As Daud pulled him out from behind the large piece of furniture, he realized that the number of books behind the kid was really quite impressive. Very few were written in Serk though. Finding texts written in other languages in Dunwall was very hard and Daud, being able to read and speak Gristol had never really bothered specifically looking for anything in his native language.

“We’re going to have to come up with a better name for you,” Daud muttered as the scrawny kid reached in for the book he had been trying to read. Shadow was a bit long really, Sneak seemed almost derogatory despite it not meaning to be, and Pup was more a title really. “I’ll have to think about it…”

“Good luck on that,” Rulfio muttered. “We’ve been trying to come up with something better for a week now. He doesn’t really respond to anything though.”

Daud grunted a little. The kid just might need a little more time to get used to them. It hadn’t been a very long time and he still refuse to speak even to Daud despite his apparent attachment to the Whaler leader. Daud was truly beginning to wonder if the kid simply _couldn’t_ speak. Maybe he should find an actual doctor to take a look at him. The last Doctor they’d had in the group had left several months ago due to a conflict of opinion. Apparently, he hadn’t been able to handle seeing his friends continually cut up and shot to pieces. Daud understood that, he truly did, he hated seeing his men injured as well, but their work was dangerous. That was the simple truth.

He knew he needed a new full time medic but finding a suitable one wasn’t going to be easy. Discretion was vitally important as was the ability to simply work without much trained help or as many supplies as they would truly want. It was a hard sell to be sure.

Daud shook his head and put that issue, along with hundreds of others that weren’t pressing, off to the side for now. He could deal with it later. The kid had found himself a seat behind Duad’s desk along with a large supply of books. Daud noticed than anyone just coming into the room wouldn’t be able to see him. In fact, only people directly standing in front of Daud’s desk really had a chance and Daud couldn’t quite help the smile tugging at his lips. The boy’s trauma had clearly left marks but his ability to find the best places to hide in a room was an unexpectedly useful one. If he ever got over his anxiety he would be an amazingly useful Whaler.

The boy had perched himself on top of a chest that Daud had shoved in the corner and surrounded himself with stacks of the books he’d horded away. He was curled up into a crouch on top and somehow managed to balance the book he was currently studying on his knees. Rulfio was still looking a bit exasperated so Daud waved his hand a little. “Don’t worry about it, Rulfio. He’s fine here with me. Clearly, it was still too early to try and train him. We’ll try again in a week or so.”

Rulfio sighed. “Fine, you can keep track of him from now on. Good luck. One minute you’ll look up and realize he’s slipped off again and have no idea where he ran off to.”

Daud smirked. “I don’t think there’s much danger of that,” he said. The boy looked perfectly content to be where he was. Besides, if what Rulfio said was true, the kid would only end up back here with him if he were sent away. It was still a little embarrassing and probably would lead to bad habits later but the kid had been through a lot and it was hard to deny him something simple like letting him stay somewhere he feels safer.


	5. Chapter 5

It took another two weeks before Daud was able to convince himself to give his little burr of a rescued child the Arcane Bond. He had been rather reluctant since it was already so hard to keep track of the kid but now that he seemed to have a safe spot behind Daud's desk to go, he had become somewhat less difficult to keep an eye on. He rarely showed up for lessons still but he was almost entirely consumed with his efforts in reading so Daud let it go. For the moment anyway.

Besides, he had reasoned, there was no telling if the little Sneak would even inherit any powers. There was always a chance that they wouldn't. Daud was actually almost hoping the kid wouldn't. It would be a particularly good reason to _not_ give him Assassin training and Daud was finding himself unusually reluctant to give the boy training. It wasn't exactly easy on one's psyche to be a hired killer and Daud always had mixed feelings about training kids. This boy, however, had it even worse what with not uttering a single word in the entire month he'd been at the base. The leader of the Whalers doubted being trained where in the neck to stab someone so that they die nearly instantly would help him much. Daud could still remember the look on his face while he'd watched that monster that had been raping him bleed out. Daud didn't think that killing was in this one's nature and he didn't want to train that out of him. Surely there could be one or two kids that didn't get turned hard and bloodthirsty by the city? An exception or two? Perhaps Daud was the wrong one to be asking for those exceptions but he'd never been one to shy away from asking for things he probably shouldn't.

Still, after so long Daud ran out of excuses and put the faint echo of his own mark on the boy's hand. He had stared at it for several minutes, looking entirely bewildered, before going back to the anatomy book he'd been trying to decipher. He'd show no signs of powers so far, which almost made Daud sigh in relief. He didn't, of course, he was still one of the most feared men in Dunwall, but he could admit -if only to himself- that the urge was there.

Daud had also been busy in looking through some rather unpleasant information that his Whalers had brought back from the estate. It was late enough that he'd finally managed to send the Shadow back to bed and he would most likely stay there, which meant he didn't feel as bad about spreading out the documents over his desk. Not that the kid could fully read yet but having having information about his own abuse spread out so close to where he was sitting had felt... indescribably dirty, to Daud. 

"These guys are really sick," Rinaldo muttered where he was standing near Daud's desk with his arms folded across his chest. He had spent the last several weeks pouring through the mess of Puttock's papers and files and had not been in the least bit happy to do it. He'd found out secrets he had very much not wanted to know.

"That's why we're going to take them out," Daud said as he scanned the list of names in the small red book that Rinaldo had taken from Puttock's office. It had apparently been hidden under one of the ancient bronze statues of an ancient mythological shepherd boy, which -due to it being so old- had of course been sculpted nude. Daud doubted the original artists would have been all that happy to see their classical art perverted into a hiding spot for sickos. "Have you confirmed any of these names?"

Rinaldo nodded. "All of them have visited the Puttock Estate dozens of times in the last six months. Some of them more often than others but all of them have definitely been there."

"I suppose we should be happy that Puttock fancied himself a blackmail genius," Daud said as he flipped through the book full of disturbing phrases and details better left unknown.

"It did make finding the others easier," Rinaldo agreed before reaching up to pull his mask off. He sighed and ran a hand through his short-cropped hair while pushing his hood back. "I'm telling ya, Daud, this one is really getting to me. I don't know how much more about what that kid went through that I can read."

Daud glanced up at his Whaler. Rinaldo was usually fairly unshakable, which was why Daud had assigned him this unpleasant task in the first place, but even he had his limits. "This book should give us all we need, Rinaldo," Daud said holding the book up slightly. "And since you've confirmed the names then there's no reason for you to read anymore details."

Rinaldo almost seemed to slump in relief. "Thank the Outsider for that... I don't think I can even look at that kid right now after reading some of that stuff. It's no wonder he's not talking."

"He'll recover."

"Yeah, but after how long?"

Daud didn't have an answer for that and didn't bother pretending otherwise. He turned his attention back to the book in front of him and frowned when one name popped out at him. He quickly flipped through the pages, looking for that name again. It didn't take long for him to count up the number of times it appeared. He was... disappointed. He really shouldn't be. All Lords were the same. Corrupt on the inside and far too rich to touch. But he'd actually thought a little better about this one. He'd always appeared a decent hard working sort. Daud supposed he was a better actor than most.

He would be hard to get to though. He had far too many connections that would call for Whaler blood if he were outright murdered. They'd have to get creative. Daud glanced up at Rinaldo. "We're heading for the Estate District."

Rinaldo blinked, obviously surprised. "Now?"

"Yes," Daud said as he locked the book in his desk and grabbed his wrist-mounted crossbow.

"It's pretty late, Daud. We're not going to see much..."

"This isn't reconnaissance," Daud denied. "We're going to pay a little visit to one of these Lords who think it's alright to hurt children."

Rinaldo's dark green eyes flashed a little as he grabbed up his mask again. "Is it going to be painful?" he questioned almost eagerly. "Please tell me it's going to be painful."

"Not as painful as it should be," Daud admitted. "But all the rest will make up for him."

"I hate not giving people what they deserve," Rinaldo said before his voice became oddly muffled and metallic from his Whaler's mask again.

Daud decided it was best to not give any response to that and just led the way out of the base. The roofs of the slums were harder to navigate than most roofs, mostly because the shingles were likely to shift and slide under their feet. It took no small amount of skill to run over the slopes of the different buildings and not lose their footing. Most Whalers had learned which roofs were in worse condition than others and instinctively avoided them if they could. If they couldn't they Transversed most of the way across the precarious perches until they reached more stable areas, usually half falling fire escapes or balconies.

Behind them, Daud would have been rather annoyed to realize a scrappy boy who barely spoke Gristol was following. It was difficult as his balance and endurance weren't quite to the level of running on rooftops and jumping over perilously high gaps over alleyways. His Transversals were sloppy as well and more than once he tumbled as soon as his feet found the ground again. But he was far enough behind that his stumbles didn't attract the attention of the two Assassins. It made for a certain tension as he struggled to keep track of them but he was beyond curious as to where they were going so late at night.

He knew he probably shouldn't be following but he hadn't been able to sleep what with his nightmares and had decided to go try to read some more. He hadn't meant to spy on Daud and Rinaldo talking about whatever that book was and then leave the building but he had. It wasn't like he was sleeping anyway so following them had been the natural choice at the time.

Running over roofs was a lot different from climbing trees though and soon he was wondering if it had been a terrible idea to follow. His legs were throbbing and burning with the desire to stop but he pressed on anyway. If he lost track of Daud and Rinaldo now he might not be able to find his way back to the base and getting lost in the city was far from appealing. He noticed that the two adults stopped on the edge of one much nicer roof and he nearly slid to his own stop on the now metal roof before ducking behind a large brick chimney. 

He had to catch his breath through several moments of heavy panting that he tried to stifle as best he could. He heard the sounds of more Transversals and peered out from around the chimney. He was still trying to catch his breath but he didn't see any sign of the adults he had trailed this far. He wasn't sure how far they had actually gone but it felt like they had been running and jumping for _ever_. He definitely wouldn't be able to find his way back without following the adults. He still didn't see them even as he looked for any roofs or balconies or any other perches nearby. Where could they have gone?

Slowly, he crawled out from behind his hiding spot and moved to the edge of the roof. He looked down at the street, being sure to pay extra attention to the shadows. If he were hiding, that would be where he'd go. Nobody ever looked in shadows or high places. 

There was the faintest movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned to look closer. A pair of large glass doors leading to a stone balcony across the street and two houses down had just closed. He wasn't sure if that was where they'd gone but it was the only thing that had moved so he really didn't know where else he was supposed to go. Getting across the street would be tricky though. It was a long way down if he missed a jump.

He spotted a street lamp nearby and bit his lower lip. It was pretty narrow...

He didn't allow himself to think on it for more than a second and backed up several steps before running. He missed the streetlamp but barely managed to grasp the thin pole sticking out of the back of it with one hand and a little cry of fright. He hung there for several moments as he heart thundered in his little chest and he struggled to calm down. He shouldn't have done that. He looked up at the streetlamp and swallowed hard. Why had he thought that would work? He would never be able to pull himself up onto that narrow light either. He looked down at the street below and let out a little noise of despair. If he dropped down from this high up he'd definitely hurt himself.

Now what was he supposed to do? He swallowed hard and looked around for some clue. He had to figure it out fast since his hand was starting to hurt from holding on to the thin pole so tight, but if he didn't hold on this tight he was afraid of slipping. 

The balcony caught his eye across the street. He could in no way jump there but perhaps he could...

He struggled to keep calm and focused before he unleashed his borrowed power. He scraped his knees across the stone railing but managed to catch his balance and jump down onto the actual balcony with a sigh of relief. The tightness in his chest eased as he leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths. 

After a few moments he finally peaked around the corner to look into the house. It was richly decorated with red curtains and dark woods. The fireplace was crackling on one side and a large unlit chandelier dominated the ceiling. There were several plush armchairs sitting in the room facing the fire. The boy's eyes widened when he saw that one armchair was occupied by an old man that was fairly thin and wearing night clothes. The old man's hair was nearly gone and his eyes were wide with fear. Probably because of the sight of Daud standing in front of the fire with his arms folded. Rinaldo had a hand keeping the old man sitting down.

The boy watched as Daud stood there in front of the man with a very unsettling look on his face. He couldn't hear what was being said at all but he didn't particularly think he wanted to know either. His eyes widened even more as Rinaldo grabbed the old man's hand and slapped a pistol into it firmly. 

The old man was in tears and saying something. Even from a distance the boy could see that the aging Lord was trembling under Rinaldo's hand. Daud didn't look even vaguely moved by whatever the old man was saying. Whatever he said back made the old man flinch. The boy couldn't look away as Rinaldo all but rammed the barrel of the gun into the Lord's mouth. The old man was still crying but could no longer say anything at all.

Daud said something else that the boy couldn't hear. Tension continued to build and the boy almost began to tremble himself as he watched, unable to tear his eyes away. The moments seemed to stretch far too long.

Then there was an explosion that made the boy flinch hard. Light flashed and the man's head went flying apart. Blood and brain matter sprayed out and covered the back of his seat and even hit a mirror on the wall. The boy could only stare as the man's hand -still clutched around the pistol- fell to his lap and his destroyed head fell back onto the plush velvet of the seat back.

The boy was trembling as he tried and failed to move his gaze away from the gruesome sight. Blood was dripping from the chandelier and soaking into the fabrics of the room. He was barely aware of Rinaldo pouring some of the nearby brandy onto what was now a corpse and then partially filling a crystal glass he put nearby. Daud was saying something again but the boy still couldn't hear it. He wasn't even sure he wanted to.

He finally felt his body relaxing from the sudden tension and he sat back to stare at nothing. That was the second man he'd seen die. He wasn't sure which of them were worse. There was so much blood with both. 

Suddenly the door to the balcony opened and the boy saw a pair of boots enter his vision. He wasn't able to look up but he didn't resist as he was physically picked up. He automatically wrapped his arms around whoever it was. All he could see was red but he wasn't sure if that was because of blood or if the coat was really that color. He was barely aware of being carried at all as he couldn't help replaying what he'd just seen in every tiny detail.

"How'd he even get out here?" Rinaldo asked.

"He must have followed us," Daud said with a frown. "He wasn't ready to see something like that though. He's still just a kid."

Rinaldo frowned behind his mask. "Even if the bastard deserved it?"

"How old were you when you first saw someone die?" Daud asked. "Somehow I doubt it was before you even hit puberty. And he's seen two now."

"... right," Rinaldo muttered, sufficiently chastised. This was why he didn't train the kids much. "We'll make sure to keep a better eye out to make sure he doesn't see what we do to the others."

"Good. He doesn't need to see more violence right now." Normally, Daud wouldn't worry too much but this kid was one of the youngest he'd ever picked up and he had no idea how badly such things would effect him. He didn't really want to find out either. He didn't particularly want his little Shadow turning out like Daud himself had, which meant he had to at least have some time to deal with the horrible things he'd seen before seeing something else. Of course, Daud had been older too, so who knew how different the kid would deal with what he'd seen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Dishonored 2 right!?!?
> 
> I'm taking forever with it because I do a ghost run first... with clean hands... finding as much stuff as possible... because I'm apparently a masochist. But I'm enjoying it so far! I know who you are captain!!! You don't fool me!!! Tell me what happened to your aaaarrrrmm!
> 
> Sorry. Flailing done. For now. Enjoy the chapter.

Watching the Lord have his gruesome murder performed and then disguised as a suicide had put the kid a bit further behind in his recovery, though it was hard to tell. Daud, however, _could_ tell, probably because of how much the Sneak hung around him. Also and mostly because he had become accustomed to the slow but regular turning of pages behind him as he worked on his own papers and reports. The Shadow, though he still sat there with books around him, wasn't turning the pages anymore. It was almost oppressively silent, which was silly as the boy was hardly loud, to begin with. And he usually _liked_ the quiet.

Daud glanced behind him at the boy and frowned. The kid was staring at the book open on his knees, but his eyes weren't even moving. The Leader of the Whalers sighed a little and pushed back enough to turn his chair around. Daud reached over and gently pulled the thick book out of the boy's hands. It didn't take more than a slight tug. The Master Assassin only bothered a quick glance down at what the book was before putting it to the side. It was that first medical book that the kid had been trying to read. He idly wondered if the boy had made any progress since that first attempt. Slowly, Sneak looked up at Daud. This could just not continue. "Come on," Daud said as he stood up. That only got a stare, and the scarred man sighed before picking the boy up bodily. He was still too slight despite the others coaxing him to actually eat during meal times. He often didn't eat a whole lot, but it was slowly getting better.

Shadow wrapped his arms around Daud's neck and clung there silently. Daud fought back the sigh and hoped -yet again- that the kid would slowly grow a little further away and stop seeing Daud of all people as a hero. Because he wasn't a hero, nor did he particularly want to be one. He wasn't cut out for selfless actions even when he -rarely, he admitted- tried to perform them.

Sure, Daud had saved some people from unpleasant fates, but he'd outright murdered far more than he'd ever saved. Hopefully, Shadow would eventually realize that Daud wasn't one to idolize.

Daud wasn't quite sure what made him carry the little Whaler to the tallest building in the area. He'd noticed that the kid liked to watch things going on around him and from here they could see the ships passing. They weren't right at the water's edge or anything, but he didn't think that Sneak had seen the ships before. He sat down on the roof and just let the kid slowly relax while the sun slowly sunk towards the horizon. The sky was quickly stained orange and yellow and pink as clouds tinged grey from the city smog drifted past. The colors bounced off the water that they could just see through the building and they could see the tops of the ships as they went past.

It had taken most of the sunset before the kid allowed himself to sit beside Daud rather than on top of his lap. "Only come out here with me or one of the others," Daud said as he and the boy continued to watch the ships and the clouds pass by. "This is beyond our patrols, so it's dangerous to come this far without someone else. Do you understand?"

There were several minutes before the boy nodded, but Daud was glad he'd gotten even that reaction. The two of them sat there until the sun had fully set and all the lights on the street and on the distant ships began to come on. Shadow definitely seemed content to just sit there and watch, and so Daud was content as well. It was better than the kid sitting there staring at books he wasn't reading, though probably not by much.

Daud let them sit there for another few moments before getting up and taking Sneak back to the base. Once they were back, Daud ushered the boy down to dinner. The others had given up actively worrying when they couldn't find the Shadow since he was never easy to find if he didn't want to be and usually Daud sent him back at some point. They only now began to worry when he was gone for an abnormally long amount of time.

Once the kid had been shown the vantage point on the nearby roof, however, he started showing up a little more regularly. Usually just to get someone to take him out there. Whether he _always_ got someone to take him to his new favorite spot when he wanted to go was debatable, but at least he got an adult to accompany him enough times that it became easy to realize what he wanted if he tugged on someone's hand or wrist. It was the only time he actively touched anyone at all, with the exception of Daud himself, who even still rarely got actually touched by Shadow first.

It slowly became apparent that the kid was figuring out how to read relatively quickly and with only moderate help. He would occasionally -albeit silently- point out words he needed help with for Daud to decipher, but judging from the speed he was flipping the pages in his books he was learning remarkably quickly. Not to mention was a pretty fast reader considering his age. Soon enough, the only words he was coming to ask for help on were the overly technical ones that cropped up. What with his ability to read improving by leaps and bounds the kid began devouring Daud's modest library at an alarming pace. Daud kept some books out of the Sneak's hands because of what the books were about but even if he hadn't it would be hard to keep the kid supplied with something he hadn't yet read. 

Within two weeks, the trauma of seeing a man's head blown apart had seemingly passed with the child's reading obsession and visits to the lookout spot. Daud was glad that he was improving and kept a close eye on him to ensure that it kept up. The Shadow was long since physically recovered and Daud was becoming somewhat resigned to the idea of him not ever actually speaking. A month and a half without so much as a peep wasn't very encouraging. Even when the kid was having a nightmare, which happened frequently enough that his roommates had gotten accustomed to it, he didn't let out any actual screams or words. Whimpers at the most.

One night, when it was so cloudy that the moon and stars were all but entirely blocked out, and the streets were covered in a thick mist, Daud woke up in his bed. He remained frozen, not entirely sure what it was that had disturbed him in the first place. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and while they did he grabbed at his gun hidden where it was tucked between the mattress and the wall and slightly under the pillow. He usually hated guns for their noise, but they were handy for such instances. It wasn't as if he was unaware there was a huge bounty on his head. It would be rare for someone to have sneaked into his base to try and kill him but hardly unheard of. Very few could sneak past his men but... well that wasn't unheard of either. Just much much rarer. Only two people had managed it before and well... those had not been cordial visits.

Daud's eyes finished adjusting, and he slowly scanned the room. He didn't see anything obviously out of place. The window was still bolted shut despite his preference for a breeze while he slept. The door, and more importantly the chair in front of it, was still carefully placed, so nobody had come through there. 

Daud allowed his eyes to slowly travel up. There shouldn't be anything above him, but to his surprise there was. Sitting on the hanging light fixture was a small, scrawny figure. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Only a child could weigh little enough to manage to sit on that thing. It was half falling down and so small that it was the only reason he'd allowed it to stay there. He didn't even allow thick crown molding in his room so that there was nothing for anyone to cling to that high. He preferred open rooms that were harder to hide in. He didn't know _how_ the small figure had gotten into the room or even up there without Daud noticing, but that probably didn't matter.

So, considering it had to be a child sitting on that light and the fact that there weren't many children that would sneak into his room, he felt he could guess easily who it was. "Shadow... come down here," he said softly.

There was a moment's pause before the kid used a Transversal to leave the light and appear on the top of Daud's trunk at the end of the bed. Well, that answered that. Daud had his suspicions after he and Rinaldo had been followed halfway across the city, but that definitely confirmed it. He was a little disappointed, despite himself, that the kid had gotten powers, but was also strangely proud that the Sneak had figured out how to use it without anyone helping him. Annoyingly independent, smart children... and now with powers. Outsider help him, what was he getting into anyway?

"Why are you here?" Daud asked as he pushed himself up in bed.

Shadow, of course, just stared at the ground and didn't answer. Daud sighed and pushed his hair back from his face. He knew better. Yes and no answers were all he'd ever get from someone who wouldn't or couldn't talk. He still wasn't sure which it was. 

He thought for a moment as he studied the boy's profile. He looked wide awake but tired at the same time. Daud took a not very wild guess. "Another nightmare?" This time he was graced with a nod. "Why come here then?" he asked despite it not being an easy question to answer with a nod. And sure enough, Shadow only shrugged. Daud studied the kid carefully for another moment. Damn. How had he gotten into this situation anyway? He _should_ send the child back to bed or give him a book to read and then send him to bed. Or... milk or something right? Why did the kid always hang around Daud anyway? Daud didn't actively encourage it or anything. 

The Pup still looked tired, and Daud felt his resistance beginning to crumble. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Why was this kid so hard to say 'no' to anyway? He didn't even really ask for anything to say 'yes' to in the first place. He just sat there all quiet and sad looking. Like a kicked puppy. No wonder the name Pup had stuck with Rulfio so well.

Daud sighed and extended an arm. "Come on then. I'm going back to sleep so you might as well lay down. You need to go back to bed if you get tired again, though," he said. There was no hesitation and soon he had the kid curling up against him. He rolled his eyes. The kid might be smart enough to teach himself to read a whole different language, but he had no sense of self-preservation. Daud should be the last person he wanted to be close to. Still, Daud let it be for now and laid back down to go to sleep. He was tired himself, and he still had a pile of papers to look through first thing in the morning. 

The kid snuggled in closer and Daud bit back his initial reaction, which was to tell the boy to _not_ be so attached to him. Reasoning with the little Sneak hadn't worked all that well so far, and Daud doubted it would work now that he was suffering aftereffects of a nightmare. Besides... he wasn't heartless despite what some might think or report. Daud wondered, not for the first time, where the Pup's parents were. None of the papers had indicated anything about where the pirates had taken the kid from other than Serkonos somewhere. Daud wondered how the kid's parents would have handled the traumatized seven-year-old. The Master Assassin didn't even pretend to entertain the idea that he was parent material, so he doubted he was really handling this the best way possible. Was it healthy to allow the kid to bury himself away in books and just... not talk? Somehow he doubted it, but, since Daud didn't have any healthy coping mechanisms himself, he couldn't offer any to the Pup. Daud sighed again and put the issue out of his mind for the moment. Maybe he'd talk to his Shadow again later. It was just too late right now to bother.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a shorter chapter but I needed a slightly filler-y chapter before things start to wind up. I never planned for this to be a terribly long story. I'm thinking this'll end up being 10 chapters long... So, you'll be finding out who the little Shadow is here shortly.

Three months passed by with astonishing speed and the Sneak had finally started showing up to lessons. He ditched more than a few but he showed up for the ones he actually seemed to like. Anything involving sneaking around and swords he seemed to really enjoy. He also showed up for field medic sessions where everyone had to learn the basics such as stitching closed wounds and how to scrounge together what was needed for splints. He excelled at everything he bothered to try. 

Daud had a feeling that he only bothered to try if he knew he would do well. Because he certainly never showed up for any lessons on using powers. He seemed rather gun shy about them. As well as with real guns. He didn’t like them in the least. He showed up for a few lessons with crossbows but didn’t seem fond of those either. And he definitely didn’t like explosives. He refused to pick them up at all. He avoided any lessons involving them like the plague. Even though they only used Chokedust explosives in training, it didn’t seem to matter. He stayed far far away. Daud had to wonder about that because there wasn’t much obvious reason. The Leader of the Assassins thought perhaps explosives had been part of how he’d come to be in Dunwall in the first place. Or perhaps the pirates had attacked someone while he was captive with them and explosives had been used then. Both were certainly possible but Daud figured he’d never know.

The Shadow had –with agonizing slowness- began to be friendly with the other recruits his own age. A mixture of shyness and muteness had made it hard for friendship to start to blossom but there was nobody more determined than young Whalers.

It helped, ironically enough, that Shadow was so good at hiding from others. Even before he became tentative friends with the other kids, it had become a game of sorts for the others to try and find him. The Pup had, of course, no knowledge that he was being searched for so diligently, but the first time one of the others had actually managed to find him had been most celebrated by the others. Shadow had been startled enough that he hadn’t gotten away in time to stop from being dragged down to the cafeteria to ‘celebrate’. Daud snorted a little at the memory of how utterly bewildered the kid had looked. Of course, the kid sneaked away not long after the party had started but the other kids just took that as a challenge to find him again. And now it was an official long running game on base. ‘Sneak Hunt’ could keep the kids entertained for _hours_ without a problem. Rulfio had nearly cried in joy the first time he’d sent them off to do it just to keep them out of his hair.

Luckily, Shadow had been dragged off by Dodge a little while ago because Daud was currently dealing with unpleasant business. “You’re sure?” Daud asked as he scanned Rinaldo’s report.

“Very. The ship is the same one that was docked when Puttock got lil’ Shadow,” the other assassin said with his arms folded over his chest. “It’s registered to Tyvia but hasn’t actually docked there in years. It comes here to Gristol a couple times for a few months then scampers off again.”

Daud frowned down at the papers. “Any word on what they’re trafficking other than kids to perverts?” he asked.

“Word on the street is that was a fairly one time thing. Don’t usually do it. They seem more interested in pirating goods they don’t have to feed. Expensive silks and jewels. No idea why they got into the human side of things. Maybe a special order or something,” Rinaldo said as he leaned one hip against the leader’s desk. “It’ll be in dock for another few days according to the manifest.”

“Get some men together. I don’t want any of those pirates getting away when we hit it,” Daud said as he picked up his red wax pencil and started jotting down important details. It was odd that pirates that didn’t usually kidnap kids would start but then again they might have recently had a change in leadership. And since there was no telling which of the pirate bastards had touched Shadow, Daud would just deal with them all the same way. No great loss either way. They were pirates after all. “Any information on the rest of the ‘lords’ on our list?”

“The two you ordered taken care of were dealt with yesterday,” Rinaldo said. “We’ve gathered information on a couple of the others for you to look at.” He handed Daud a pile of envelopes. “The one on top there… we might want to take care of him soon. He’s got a bunch of kids himself. Who knows what the hell he’s doing to them.”

Daud made a face. “He’ll go to the top of the list then. Anybody get suspicious about the one we made look like a suicide?”

“No. Not even a flutter. Apparently he was depressed already so even though his widow is saying he wouldn’t have actually gone through with it, nobody is believing her. She’s just the distraught widow who doesn’t want to accept the truth,” Rinaldo explained. “Everyone pretty much agrees that he blew his own brains out.”

“Good.” Daud hadn’t been in the least bit pleased when they’d confronted that bastard. As if the simpering old lord’s claims that he’d been trying to turn the others in had been in the least bit believable. You didn’t have to molest children to turn in pedophiles. You just did it. Because that was the fucking right thing to do. No, his excuse of trying to find evidence and earning trust and all the other stupidity that had come out of his mouth that night had only served to enrage Daud more. Because it was ridiculous. That he thought for even a second that he could somehow explain away something like that with such a flimsy story had nearly ruined the plan. Daud had almost slit his throat himself rather than make him fire the gun.

That bastard’s name had been in Puttock’s book at least four times. You didn’t visit a child sex slave four times by accident. Daud couldn’t even imagine the sort of sick things that bastard had done and then somehow managed to ‘justify’ to himself later on. It was disgusting. Daud tossed his pencil onto his pile of papers and leaned back in his chair some. He needed to get his mind off of this for the rest of the night. He’d been delving into the sick depravity of child trafficking for the last two hours and he just couldn’t take anymore.

Rinaldo didn’t seem all that surprised when Daud swept the different documents into a drawer in his desk and then locked it. “Going out for a bit, sir?”

“I’ll be back soon,” Daud assured the other man. 

He didn’t bother listening for any agreement or acknowledgement and instead flitted out of the base. He knew his face was a bit too recognizable for wandering around Dunwall but Daud was confident he could handle the Watch. And besides, if he stayed in the shadier areas of the city, he wouldn’t be fingered. As much as Kaldwin had ownership of the brightly lit city streets, Daud owned the underbelly and back alleys. Or near enough to it. He had to share with some idiots like Slackjaw and the Hatters but well, those areas were always changing hands. Daud didn’t worry himself over it. Of course he really would like to get that Slackjaw bounty taken care of…

Daud wandered somewhat aimlessly for a little while before coming to a familiar hole in the wall. He studied the door for a moment and then came to a decision with a slight shrug. The bar was about three blocks down from Pratchett Cannery and almost entirely forgotten about, which suited the clientele perfectly. Hanging all along the walls were wanted posters some of which were even framed and a few even had messy lipstick marks from drunken patrons. Daud was less than pleased to see his own hanging there with several smears of red across the cheek. Just what he didn’t need…

To the side the Lord Protector’s likeness was being used as a dartboard and Daud suppressed the urge to snort. It was a good thing no members of the Watch ever came in or that would cause quite a ruckus. Daud thought there might be some law somewhere about disrespecting the Lord Protector’s image or something… or was that for royalty? Eh, either way it was probably something the Watch would disapprove of.

Daud went to the bar and took a seat against the wall. The bartender, an older man with only one eye and part of his nose missing, sauntered over to him after dealing with a few rough and tumble looking men that could possibly be Dead Eels if Daud was reading their tattoos right. “Daud, it’s been a while. What’re you doing here?”

“Just looking for a change of scenery,” Daud answered. Before he could even think to order a glass was set in front of him and was filled with whiskey. He smirked some and raised it in thanks. “A drink’s not bad either.”

“Heard you got a problem child with you now,” the bartender said. Daud just raised an eyebrow. The old man shrugged. “Rulfio,” he answered the silent question. “Poor man’s been driven to drink. Don’t think he’s ever been given so much trouble before.”

Daud couldn’t help but smirk a little. “Good. Nothing wrong with a little trouble.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you were the one training him,” Rulfio said as he sat down heavily beside his boss. Daud wasn’t surprised to see him even though they hadn’t come here together or even met here regularly. But he’d definitely noticed when Rulfio had entered the room just a few minutes after he had.

“That’s why I’m in charge. So I don’t have to,” Daud pointed out. 

Rulfio grumbled a bit and swiped the drink from in front of Daud. “The Kid’s a nightmare, you know,” he muttered before downing the rest of the glass. Daud frowned some but since a second glass and a bottle was put down between them near instantly decided to let it go. “Tried teaching him wristbows again… Shot the dummy’s crotch out.”

Daud couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Rulfio glared half-heartedly. “It’s not funny when you’re the one standing in the room with him and he’s aiming at crotches. I like my man parts where they are and in once piece thank you.”

“How do you know he’s aiming at crotches and just not a bad shot?” Daud questioned.

“Cause I’ve seen him when he goes to aim. At first he’s fine then his arm just _drops_ and he fires straight into the dummy’s groin. It’s not an accident, Daud,” Rulfio insisted. He normally would have been glad to see a student who could hit what they aimed at but after five arrows into a dummy’s imagined privates, it became a bit more worrisome than prideful.

“Well… he might have some repressed anger there…” Daud admitted, still smiling a little. “I’ll talk to him about it. But maybe hold off on any more wristbolt training until I do.”

Rulfio snorted some. “Yeah, thanks, I’d already planned on that. No way in hell he’s getting a gun to play with…”

“I didn’t think he liked guns,” Daud said as he lifted his new glass.

“Doesn’t like ‘em but I was teaching him how to take care of them at least. I figured if he ever gets put in the armory he’d need to know it… not doing that anymore though,” Rulfio said firmly. “Not until he stops being all… frighteningly focused on his point of damage…”

“You’re probably safe from his anger, Rulfio,” Daud said. “You were the one to patch him up.”

Rulfio nodded a little. “I’d rather be safe than a eunuch, Daud, if it’s all the same to you.” 

“Did it occur to you he’s doing this just to make sure you don’t try and teach him things he’s not interested in?” Daud asked.

“Well then he’s fuckin’ smarter than any of the others ‘cause there’s no way in hell am I risking that,” the other assassin said. “Castration by arrow is… just horrific sounding.” Daud chuckled a bit and grabbed his glass again. He wasn’t sure if Shadow was really that angry or was smart enough to judge the reaction of acting out in such a way but Daud found it endlessly amusing. Just the thing to brighten his day.


	8. Chapter 8

Daud kept still as a statue where he was on top of the building at the docks. From what he could tell, most of the pirate ship’s crew was in fact onboard. Only a handful had left, heading for the Golden Cat. They would be back by morning and dealt with as they arrived. The main group, however, would be dealt with now. It had taken some time and effort to detach the Shadow from his side and leave him at the hideout, but he had finally accomplished it. He didn’t want the kid to be involved in this. Who knew how seeing the crew that had kidnapped him and then ‘sampled’ him would do to the poor little guy’s psyche? It was a long trip from Serkonos to Gristol. At least, if you’re being abused by the people taking you.

He signaled to the group that he had brought along with him on this particular job and the various assassins spread out to their designated spots. He knew it wouldn’t take long for them to all be in position.

Once the time allotted for position was over, Daud was the first to move. There wasn’t any immediate sign of life on the ship, but as the assassin got closer he could hear laughter and talking and general raucousness. Climbing very carefully over the side of the boat, Daud made his way silently to the Captain’s quarters. Most of his men split off to venture below through whatever means they could. He was fairly certain he even spotted a couple managing to clamber in through portholes.

Two men, however, followed right behind Daud. He easily identified them as Rinaldo and Rulfio. The two of them had seemed quite eager for this venture and Daud certainly didn’t blame them. 

The three of them paused at the closed doors to the captain’s quarters and readied their crossbows and other weapons. Daud wasn’t going to kill the man fast. He had some time, and he wanted to make sure the scum who would sell a child into a life of sexual slavery really suffered. He glanced to his two lieutenants and received their silent nods to indicate they were ready. That was plenty for him, and without warning, he shoved the door open. His aim already finding the man behind the door as Rinaldo and Rulfio flowed into the room like liquid and smoke.

The man behind the desk shouted and jumped to his feet but even as he reached for a pistol he froze. He could see the very much _lethal_ bolts pointed at his face from three different angles. Daud stepped fully into the room then and kicked the door close behind him. He didn’t want to be disturbed. 

Daud wasn't in the least bit ashamed to say that he rather enjoyed the look of utter fear on the pirate captain's face. The Captain of _The Yvonne_ was younger than Daud had expected but Daud knew from experience how early some could get started on the illegal side of things. The twenty something blonde obviously recognized Daud, judging from how his eyes widened and he scrambled back in his chair. "D-daud... I have no quarrel with you."

"But I have one with you," Daud said. Rinaldo and Rulfio both were nearby and Rinaldo seemed quite intent on playing with a particularly wicked looking knife. Daud wasn't sure where he'd gotten it from but he wasn't going to put a leash on it. "You made a... certain sale to Lord Puttock about eight months ago."

The Captain -Devon, Daud thought his name might be- paled even more under his stubbly attempt at a beard. "No. I've never made any sale to a Lord Puttock."

Daud narrowed his eyes, and Rulfio took a step forward threateningly before he managed to catch himself. "Don't insult our intelligence, Captain," Daud said as he stalked closer. "I know this ship made the sale. And I know _what_ you sold."

Devon held his hand up. "No. You don't understand... I've only been Captain of this ship for four months. I've never sold anything to a Lord Puttock. I swear," he reasoned. "The old Captain retired. I bought the ship. That's all."

The Master Assassin studied the blonde carefully. He didn't think that Devon was lying to him but judging by how terrified he seemed to be, Daud didn't doubt that the man knew _exactly_ what Daud was referring to. Daud leaned closer, resting his hands on the Captain's desk. "But you were part of the crew weren't you?" he hissed. It was a guess, but he was certain it was an accurate one. Devon paled even more, and if Daud weren't resisting the urge to cut the man's head off, he'd almost be impressed by how washed out the Captain managed to get. "You were here when that little boy was kidnapped for some sick bastard."

There was a long awkward silence and Daud thought Devon started turning a bit sickly looking. "I didn't touch him..."

"Fucker-"

Daud cast Rinaldo a quick look and the other Whaler reluctantly settled. "You expect me to believe that?" Daud asked once he turned back to the Captain. "The kid's so traumatized he can't even speak and you... what? Were just 'around'?" There was an awkward silence where Devon just gaped but couldn't manage a response. "I know that this crew did more than just kidnap him... Puttock wrote all about it."

Devon still looked terrified but managed to straighten. "I have a kid brother his age... I didn't touch him. I would never."

"You didn't stop it either," Rulfio growled. Though little Shadow gave him some headaches and sometimes creeped him right the hell out, he was fond of the little scamp. He hated knowing the sort of trauma he'd suffered and he didn't even have as many details about it as Daud or Rinaldo. He didn't want them either.

"I couldn't!" Devon snapped. "They weren't going to stop just because I told them to! I tried to tell them, but they didn't listen to me!"

"And now you're Captain," Rulfio said with no small amount of derision.

Devon blushed a bright pink. "They have to listen to me now..."

Daud straightened to his full height. "Where's the man you bought this ship from?" he asked. He was by no means forgiving this man who was, in Daud's opinion, just as guilty, but he also needed to know just who had gone about getting little Shadow for that pervert Lord.

"His name's Paulou... he's got an estate now just outside Dunwall," Devon said uneasily. "Along the river. It's called Brighthill or something like that. He's the one that planned it all with Puttock. Wanted to get out of the business... Puttock paid him a King's ransom to find him a kid..."

"And I take it Paulou knew what he was selling a _child_ into?" Daud asked in his most dangerously serious tone.

Devon looked on the verge of being ill but nodded. "He didn't tell us at first. Just that we were getting paid to find this kid. Some bull story about his parents owing a debt or something. But once we were halfway across the sea he told us. I guess, because it was too late to turn back and the others were getting antsy..."

"Antsy," Rinaldo echoed in disbelief. "So... what, he just tossed a poor kidnapped kid to them to shut them up?"

Judging from how Devon shifted uneasily, Daud guessed that was precisely what happened. "And why did you stay around after all that?" he asked icily. If this guy was even remotely decent he would have hightailed it away from this crew and ship the second they hit shore. And he _should_ have reported it.

"I told you... I have a kid brother. I'm the only one he has... I hated not being able to stop what happened but sailing earns me what I need to provide for my brother. And even you can't fault me for that," he said fiercely.

Daud studied the man for several minutes, debating what he should do. He wasn't entirely convinced that this man had done all he really could have but providing for family was something that Daud begrudgingly accepted as a partially mitigating factor. "What's your brother's name?" he asked.

Devon shifted on his feet. "Quinn."

Daud still wasn't entirely certain but he considered his instincts usually quite accurate, and his instincts were saying this guy wasn't totally horrible. "If the kid sees you again," Daud began. "How would he react?" No matter what decision he was toying with, Daud wasn't about to bring anyone that frightened the Sneak into their circle. That just wasn't going to happen.

The Captain looked slightly confused. "I don't know. He'll probably recognize me... I tried to patch him up a little... but I have no idea if seeing me will scare him or not," he admitted. "Why do you ask?"

Judging by the slight tilt of Rinaldo and Rulfio's masks, Devon wasn't the only one wondering that. Daud didn't answer right away though. "This ship is going to burn-"

Devon gave a little noise of alarm, "You can't do that! All my savings went into buying this ship!"

The Master Assassin frankly didn't care. "It's going to burn," he repeated. "You I'm not as decided on..." He would rather not kill someone if they really hadn't done anything wrong but it was hard to rationalize that what with knowing that Devon still hadn't gone for help for Shadow. At the absolute least, perhaps Devon could be of some use. "For starters, you're going to take us to where your old boss lives."

The pirate still looked nervous and Daud thought he looked even younger than previously estimated. This ship was probably what he'd hung all his hopes and dreams for the future on. But the assassin couldn't bring himself to leave it untouched. Nothing about what happened to the Sneak could he deign to keep in existence if he could help it. "And you'll let me live?"

"I haven't decided," he repeated. "But if I don't. I'll keep your brother from starving or ending up dead in a gutter or something." Devon shifted again, looking very uncomfortable. But Daud didn't care. Let him be uncomfortable. He _should_ be uncomfortable given the situation. "If you cooperate and if the Kid doesn't have any problems with you... I'll give you a chance to earn a place doing something else. But those are big ifs."

"But you swear my brother will be taken care of either way?" Devon asked.

Daud studied the other man for a few minutes. Finally, he nodded. "I'll make sure of it."

"Alright then... I'll take you there," Devon agreed.

Rinaldo and Rulfio didn't seem entirely happy and neither was Daud, if he was being honest, but it really was a compromise. And it wasn't like he wouldn't kill the pirate if it turned out he was lying to them. Oh, if he was lying and he really had touched the Kid, oh Daud was going to rip him limb from limb for it.

The Leader of the Assassins gave a seemingly nondescript gesture, and Rinaldo stepped up to grab Devon by the arm. "Come with me."

Daud watched them go before turning to Rulfio. "I'm surprised you're letting him live."

"Just for now," Daud replied. "He could have information. Like where Shadow came from. Maybe he also heard his name at some point. We should get what we can out of him."

"And promising to take care of the brother?"

Daud shrugged but didn't reply more than that. He wasn't going to admit to the massive soft spot he seemed to be developing for kids. He would have to work on keeping that vulnerability a bit better disguised. It wouldn't do him any favors. "Is everyone else ready?"

"We're just waiting for the last few crew members to show up," Rulfio said. "All the others are already taken care of... unless you want to extend to them the same mercy as you did the captain."

"Hardly," Daud said. "And we'll find out soon enough if the good Captain will end up being spared or not."

"You really think he didn't touch the Kid?"

Daud was quiet for several minutes as he contemplated it. "Hard to say." Another silence fell between them as they made their way onto the deck. "He seemed appalled but that could have been guilt as well. We'll know for sure when we see how Shadow reacts."

"You sure you wanna use the Pup for a test like that?"

"No," Daud said. "I don't. But how else are we supposed to figure out if we're being told the truth?"

"We could beat it out of him," Rulfio suggested darkly.

Despite himself, Daud let himself smile a little. It was definitely tempting. "We can always resort to that later if need be."

"I volunteer for the privilege."

"I'm sure I'll get many volunteers," Daud drawled as they transversed up to the nearby rooftops. Devon was there with a whaler on either side of him. He still looked nervous and uncomfortable and Daud wasn't of any sort of inclination to relieve that anytime soon. As soon as they got back Devon was going in a holding room until they needed him. Hopefully, there in his own little guarded room, he wouldn't be found by the Shadow before Daud was there to keep things under control.

It took a few hours for all of the remaining pirates to filter in from their night of drinking. They quickly found themselves with their throats slit or crossbow bolts through their heads and hearts before being dumped into the hold. With each death, Devon winced a little though Daud noticed he didn't seem all _that_ broken up about it. "Didn't like your crew?" Daud asked as another body tumbled down.

Devon gave an awkward shrug. "They weren't all bad... but they did something despicable. So I know why this is happening to them. They probably have no clue, but I guess it doesn't matter."

"Master Daud," one Whaler said once he transversed in front of where they were standing. "That should be the last one, sir."

"Good," Daud glared at the boat now full of corpses. "Burn it."

In a matter of minutes, the boat was engulfed in flames that started in the sabotaged engines. Soon, a crowd had appeared at the dock while the fire crackled and roared. Some were worried about the fire spreading and started to try and fight the flames. Daud noticed they were very unsuccessful. Beside him, Devon shifted in place and stared at the flames with a crushed expression. Definitely he cared more for the boat than the men. The Leader of the Assassins supposed that spoke well for the pirate. 

The flames on the boat would not go out. The Whalers had ensured it wouldn't. Though a few places on the dock caught fire there were enough people to quickly put those places out so that it didn't spread further. By now, the Watch had even arrived and started trying in earnest to put out the inferno.

Daud and his men stood on the roofs and watched until the boat was nothing more than a smoldering husk and began to sink into the water. The bodies inside would more than likely never be fully recovered, if the Watch even bothered at all. Daud just wished that the Shadow's pain could be burned away with such ease. But he knew it would take more work to truly get him better.

As the last of the flaming wreckage sunk to the bottom of the harbor, Daud turned away. "Let's head back. It's late." Really it was early but those were technicalities that he didn't usually address. Besides, he had another attack to plan.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Chapter gets DARK at the end. 
> 
> But! Only one last chapter and you'll find out who little Shadow is! Put your last guesses down now!

Brighthill Estate was, as it turns out, rather easy to find. It had an absolutely prime location on the river and huge gleaming statues scattered about. It had most likely cost more than just a pretty penny, Daud despised the place instantly. From early recon, Daud figured that Paulou hadn’t bothered in investing in too many guards. Oh, he had some, of course, but not nearly as many as Daud thought would be around such an overly lavish estate. It would be easier than Daud initially figured to get inside and kill the man. But, Daud had didn’t go by ‘Master Assassin’ (an admittedly somewhat arbitrary title he gave himself one day, but one nobody questioned) for no reason. He was methodical about every job -even seemingly cake walks. So, Daud sent his men to keep an eye on the place for a little while. It wasn’t as if they were in a rush of any sort.

While surveillance was ongoing, the rest of their targets could still be dealt with. There was no shortage of volunteers for the jobs to kill the rapists. Although, Daud did have to pull a few of his men back purely so that they didn’t draw too much attention. There were only so many bloody messes that could be left behind without causing outright panic in the common man. About one. _Perhaps_ two, if spread apart by a few weeks.

Daud himself couldn’t go on too many of the missions. Namely, because he still had a determined little Shadow that stuck to him very closely about eighty percent of the time. More than once Daud had woken up to Shadow having somehow entered his bed and curled up beside him. The first time he’d invited the kid down from the chandelier had apparently made it an open invitation in Shadow’s mind. Of course, Daud hadn’t thought that anyone, much less a child, would be able to slip into his bed without waking him up. It was disturbing a little, but Daud found he couldn’t just kick the kid back out. He was only looking for a bit of comfort, after all. Like any kid would do with their parent or something. Daud remembered, when he was still just a child, crawling into his mother’s bed on occasion. Usually after nightmares. He’d broken himself of the habit given enough time and age, and Daud was certain that Shadow would do the same. Daud was willing to cut him some slack. For now. At least it wasn’t every night.

Rulfio still complained about Sneak not showing up to lessons, with the same tone of voice that spoke of someone about to pull their hair out. So, Daud decided to try a new approach. He took the kid down to lessons himself though he didn’t always stay to ensure that his silent Shadow did. Sometimes Shadow stayed without Daud around and sometimes he didn’t. Daud even gave a demonstration and tips once and a while, which seemed to get all of the initiates excited, embarrassingly enough. Perhaps he’d have to do it more often. Couldn’t hurt. 

It was during one of the swordsmanship lessons -where Daud was watching while chatting idly with Rulfio- that Daud realized just how much of a natural fencer his Shadow was. The kid might not like guns, but he would be _devastating_ with a blade given some more training. Already he took on other initiates many times larger than him with seemingly no qualms. Given how much smaller and younger he was than the others, Shadow couldn’t meet too many in physical contests, and he didn’t seem to really try. But he was, Daud noticed, quite a bit faster than the others, and he used that ruthlessly to his advantage. He even pulled out a few illegal (and not at all fair) moves that Daud was sure he hadn’t been taught. The Master Assassin felt he should probably be more disapproving of that than he actually was. The one thing Daud knew they’d have to work with the kid on, though, was his wildness. Because he did get that way sometimes while fighting. Especially, Daud realized, when cornered. Not that the Whaler Leader blamed the kid. Daud didn’t like being cornered either.

“He used to watch us practice on the ship,” Devon said when Daud thought to mention it to him. Devon was still confined to a room and kept out of Shadow’s sight, but Daud was finding that the other man was a wealth of information and was glad he’d resisted the urge to kill him for that alone. “He was always quiet even before… all that. But he stopped talking entirely pretty early,” Devon continued, “Probably because the others sort of forgot about him if he was quiet. And when they did, he’d watch them fighting.”

“I think it distracted him from what was going on. I tried bringing him books and toys and things but he ignored that and just watched the others fighting,” Devon said.

Well, if it was something that Shadow had been interested in even then, Daud saw no reason whatsoever to stifle that. Knowing how to protect himself could not possibly be a bad thing and might even help him feel more confident and recover. But Daud hadn’t gone to Devon to discuss that. Not really. He was more interested in other things. “Where did you get him from? Karnaca?” There were plenty of street kids in Karnaca and, though it would be sad, it also wouldn’t be too surprising if Paulou had kidnapped one of them.

Devon shook his head. “No. It was a tiny little place just down the coast from Karnaca. I don’t even know if I knew it’s name or not it was that small.”

Daud scowled. Small town likely meant that Shadow hadn’t been a street kid. Which meant he probably had a family out there. He wasn’t sure if that made it worse or better. Someone, somewhere, was missing the Sneak. But without the kid talking, Daud wasn’t sure if he’d be able to find those people. He’d already established, with some frustration, that Devon had no idea what the kid’s name was. That during the trip from Serkonos, nobody had bothered asking the kid his name (well, not before he stopped talking entirely, at least) infuriated Daud. As if it would have been so hard to find out the kid’s name. Though, Devon did say that if anyone knew, it would be Paulou since he’d ‘found’ the kid.

“He almost escaped once,” Devon decided to share. “If we weren’t in the middle of the Ocean he might have managed it too. But he didn’t really have anywhere to go and we fished him back out of the water.”

“How’d he escape long enough to jump overboard?”

“The idiot that was supposed to be watching him fell asleep,” Devon said with a snort. “From what we could tell he’d just been waiting and slipped the ropes around his wrists the second he had a good chance. Unfortunately, a few days after that, when we saw him again, he wasn’t in any condition to try it a second time…”

Daud stiffened. “When you saw him again?”

Devon nodded mutely. Daud felt his stomach clench and roll unpleasantly with nausea. “Where was he?” he forced himself to ask.

“…Captain’s Quarters.” Daud didn’t have to ask. His horrid imagination could fill in the blanks all by itself. He didn’t want it to, but it did anyway. Though he’d never even heard a peep out of his little Shadow, his mind could somehow easily imagine the screams that must have filled that room. He was even more glad he’d burned that ship to its ribbing. “I never heard another word outta him,” Devon muttered.

If Daud hadn’t already planned to kill Paulou himself, he would have decided it then and there. He couldn’t imagine (nor did he want to) what sort of horrible things the Pirate had done to render his victim utterly mute almost a year after the attack. He would enjoy killing the bastard even more than he’d enjoyed killing Puttock in the first place. And this time, he’d be able to make it slow. He’d ensure that the man suffered just like he made the kid suffer.

There was a long silence within the room and then Devon cleared his throat. “Did you find my brother?”

“Yes. He’s throwing a royal fit, but we found him easily enough.” Little Quinn was acting a right pain actually. He seemed convinced they were kidnapping him or something. Probably because he didn’t seem to believe his brother was here too. Daud was sure that would straighten out given some time.

“Thank you, Daud,” Devon said with such sincerity that it made Daud want to punch him. He wasn’t quite sure why. Perhaps simply due to principles. He wasn’t used to being thanked. Especially not by people he might be killing in a week or so. Although, if he were being brutally honest, Daud was less and less convinced of killing Devon. It would still depend heavily on what Shadow did, but Devon had been nothing but helpful since they dragged him out of the ship.

After another few questions, which Devon tried to answer but was unable to provide much new insight, Daud left the room to go check on other things. He tried to keep an eye out for Shadow, but it was a fairly difficult task to achieve when the kid didn’t want to be found. Which, he usually didn’t.

It took about an hour or so before Daud finally came across the Sneak. And he was shocked by what he found. What surprised him wasn’t so much where he found him but rather who else was there. Quinn had apparently cornered Shadow in one of the currently unused training rooms. Daud would have expected that to devolve into a fight and/or Shadow running off, given how the traumatized seven-year-old didn’t like to be cornered. But that apparently wasn’t the case.

Daud couldn’t help but stare as he watched the pair from the doorway. Quinn had gotten closer than anyone -save Daud himself. The two boys were squeezed onto a high-backed chair together. Sneak had his feet pulled up and was half perched half sitting on the armrest while Quinn was sprawled carelessly with one leg hooked over the other and his dangling foot bouncing around to some imaginary tune. A large book was open between them. Though the angle looked awkward for Quinn to hold, he also seemed to be oblivious to any aches that might arise from his position.

Quinn was reading aloud and Daud vaguely recognized some sort of fairytale just by the elements involved. A dragon didn’t often appear in anything factual. Shadow was staring down at the book, apparently riveted while Quinn read it to him.

Now, Daud freely admitted he was a hard ass. Very little could touch him. But the sight of his traumatized charge finally acting like a real kid again brought a smile to his face. He didn’t dare intervene and slowly backed fully out of the room again. He felt a little bad that reading to the kid never even once occurred to him. He knew that Shadow had been trying to learn it, but Daud hadn’t really thought the kid would want to be read _to_ for some reason. Perhaps because he hardly seemed like a little boy. Daud knew that was a side effect of what he’d been through and hated that it was apparently easy for him to forget. He would have to try harder.

Daud started down the hall and saw Thomas leaning against the wall. He’d assigned the ever-responsible Thomas to keep an eye on Quinn so it was likely that was why the blonde was there. “Sir,” Thomas greeted softly.

“How long have they been in there?” Daud asked, nodding back at the room.

Thomas seemed to consider his answer for a minute before inclining his head a little. “I’d say an hour and a half or so. I thought Quinn was going to cause Shadow to take off, but then he saw the book Shadow had and started rambling about how it was his favorite.” Thomas gave a little shrug, “Asked if Shadow wanted to read it with him and they’ve been in there since.”

“Still surprising that Shadow didn’t run off,” Daud admitted.

“A bit. But I think Quinn’s frankness is working for him,” Thomas said. “He just blurts out what he thinks and doesn’t care. Everyone else walks on eggshells around the Sneak. Maybe Shadow’s tired of it.”

“He’s just a kid. He doesn’t need to know what we do day to day.”

Thomas was quiet for a moment as he watched the doorway. “All due respect, Master, but he’s not a child anymore…”

Daud scowled darkly at that but mostly because he hated that Thomas had a kind of a point. His Shadow might be young and small, and even a little scrawny, but the world and the horrible people that live in it had made sure he grew up much too fast. He’d had his innocence stolen away in more ways than one. Daud regretted killing his abusers in front of him like he had. If only because it certainly hadn’t helped the kid forget the ugly truths of the world. Normal seven-year-olds didn’t have people murdered right in front of them like that.

But, even still, Daud wasn’t going to apologize for it. Spilling blood in front of the kid hadn’t appeared to help him keep hold of his tattered childhood but hopefully it would help him feel a little safer at night. He _knew_ and would forever _know_ that Puttock was dead. He’d seen it.

The Head of the Assassins looked down the hall at the open door and sighed. “It is good to see him with someone his own age,” he admitted. He was quiet and withdrawn still, and that didn’t often mix well with Dodge and Pavel who couldn’t sit quietly for very long without getting antsy. They were getting along better, but Daud still found Shadow on his own more often than not.

Thomas nodded. “I’m not sure if Shadow just doesn’t like the games Dodge makes up or simply doesn’t understand them, but he seems happier with a book,” he agreed. Quinn hadn’t been in the hideout long, but Thomas chose to take it as a good sign the first kid he’d tried to befriend was the one most in need of one. 

Daud heard the light tread of boots from the hall and looked over his shoulder. Rinaldo paused and inclined his head a little. “Watch the kids, Thomas,” Daud ordered before going to have his meeting with his lieutenant. Thomas murmured his agreement even as sound of transversals filled the air.

Daud and Rinaldo stepped out in Daud’s office at nearly the same instant. “Report,” Daud ordered as he went behind his desk. Rinaldo had all but begged to be the one to finish off the last Lord on the list. The Head Whaler had toyed briefly with the idea of asking what this particular Lord had done to earn Rinaldo’s hatred so fully but figured he really didn’t want to know.

Rinaldo bowed a little with his hand over his chest. “Lord Waylon is dead, Master,” he said with more satisfaction than Daud had ever heard him say for any target. “There weren’t any problems at all. Nobody saw me enter or leave.”

“Will they be suspicious?” Daud asked a little warily. He didn’t want the Overseers to come knocking down their door. 

Rinaldo gave a very unpleasant smile. “Even if they are… they won’t be investigating us. I made sure of that.”

Okay, that was ominous from the normally collected Rinaldo. Daud wanted to ignore it and just take those words at face value. He really did. But he found it was just too unusual. “And how can you make sure of that?”

Rinaldo was quiet for several heartbeats. “I found another boy,” he murmured, though that didn’t really answer the question.

Daud’s eyes widened, and he froze halfway through sitting down. “What? That bastard had someone else? Is the kid alright? Did you get him out of there?” There was a painfully long silence, and Daud could _see_ the mix of unpleasant emotions in his Whaler’s eyes when they met. “Rinaldo… tell me everything,” he ordered in a calmer and softer voice. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be pleasant, but he needed to know.

After a minute of seemingly gathering himself, Rinaldo straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin to be parallel with the ground. “I found a way in through an upstairs window. I figured Waylon would be in his study on the ground floor, so I started for the stairs. I heard someone coming and hid. It was a couple of maids talking about how the attic room was ordered off limits to everyone but Waylon. It made me nervous, so I decided to check it out first.”

Rinaldo paused and swallowed visibly. “It was… about what you’d expect from a pervert’s private room… I noticed a second door open and went to look inside,” Rinaldo’s eyes drifted down before he closed them tight. “It was a bathroom. The kid had broken a mirror and slashed his wrists open… blood everywhere… probably been like that for an hour or so. I was so close! If I had just gotten there an hour earlier! Just an hour! I could have gone yesterday! There was nothing stopping me! A fuckin’ hour, Daud!”

Daud moved back to Rinaldo’s side. “You didn’t know he was there. None of us did. This isn’t your fault,” he said putting a hand on Rinaldo’s arm.

“It feels like my fault,” Rinaldo said viciously. “He didn’t have to die, Daud! We could have saved him! He was… he was just a kid. Couldn’t have been more than twelve… and he’s fuckin’ dead because of that bastard! That bedroom was disgusting, Daud! Straight outta the Void-damned Cat! No kid should have to live like that!”

“No,” Daud agreed softly. “They shouldn’t.” He gave Rinaldo what he hoped was a supportive squeeze on his arm. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Rinaldo to open that door and see what he had. They killed people every day. It was their job. But they didn’t kill kids. And kids shouldn’t be driven to such extreme methods of escape. “What happened to Waylon?” Daud finally managed to ask after several minutes.

Rinaldo took several deep breaths to steady himself. His eyes were burning with something Daud was a little uneasy to see but couldn’t quite name. Fury? Sadness? Hate? Some strange mix of all these and more? Daud wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like the look of it. “I found him in his office like I thought I would. He didn’t even know the kid had killed himself… He was the one that liked branding and burning. He put that mark on Shadow… and the other boy too. So, I gave him a taste of his own sick fetish. He squealed like the fuckin’ pig he was and started blubbering. Sickening just remembering it.” There was a long pause, and Rinaldo blinked several times. “I strung up what was left in his entry hall. It was pretty late by then so nobody was around. Then I came back here.”

Daud studied his Whaler carefully before nodding. “Take some time off. You’ve been through a lot today. He was the last one of those pervert Lords. Rest. Get your head back. I’ll need you when we assault the Brighthill Estate.”

“I could have been there earlier…”

“Don’t do that to yourself,” Daud ordered. “You couldn’t have known. And you made sure nobody else has to go through what he did. You ended him. That was all you could do.” Rinaldo sighed heavily and nodded though Daud didn’t think it particularly convincing. “Rest,” Daud ordered again, this time giving a slight nudge. Rinaldo hesitated again before bowing low. He transversed away, and Daud sat down heavily in his chair. 

That was the height of misfortune. And an unpleasant glimpse into what poor little Shadow’s fate might have been had Daud not arrived that night. It was too horrible to think about really, but his brain stubbornly wanted to go there. Daud didn’t bother heading up to bed that evening, knowing he wouldn’t be getting much sleep with so many disturbing thoughts in his head


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait for more people to have a chance to read last chapter before posting this one... but I have no self control. Luckily for you guys, I guess.

Daud was perched very carefully on top of the fence surrounding Brighthill Estate. It was going to be easy to get inside the manor, but Daud wasn't a hundred percent certain where Paulou would be in the building. The plan of attack was really quite simple. Daud and his men would slip inside through some of the very poorly secured windows and balconies and then find the bastard. Daud would 'ask' him for every bit of information that they had, and then The Head of the Assassins would kill him. Painfully.

After waiting for the lax patrol of guards to meander through the garden, Daud signaled for his men to move in. He made a somewhat daring Transversal to the top of a statue halfway across the yard before flitting over to a balcony just as far away. He heard others moving along and scrambling up the side of the house even as Daud himself pushed open the large glass door leading out onto the balcony. He only had a few minutes gap before the guard inside the house headed this way for one of his many smoke breaks, so Daud quickly transported himself onto the top of a bookshelf that looked like it hadn't been dusted in ages. Rinaldo came in through the same door, quickly closing it behind him before jumping up on top of a chandelier.

The guard appeared at the far end of the hall a moment later, already digging for a cigarette and whistling off-tune. Daud saw a shadow dash around behind him as he walked and guessed, by the fact the person was small enough to actually hide under a hallway table, that it was Thomas.

Once the Guard was outside and lighting up his cigarette, Daud moved down the hall towards the master bedroom. Paulou seemed to spend most of his time either there, in the dining room, or in his office. Since the bedroom was closest Daud would check there himself while his men scoured the rest of the house.

There was an open vent at the top of the bedroom door and, after letting a maid wander past, the Leader of the Whalers slipped into it. The bedroom was empty, though, and Daud scowled darkly at it. Didn't it just figure? Still, he allowed his men to ransack the place for any loose pocket-sized valuables. The soon to be dead man wouldn't have any need for them.

The next closest place was the study on the second floor. So, Daud left the bedroom behind to head to the nearest stairs on the other side of the house. It was a little tricky getting down the staircase at the end of the hall since a maid and guard were flirting with each other right in front of the doors. Rinaldo took out the guard while Daud choked the woman to unconsciousness. Working together neither of their targets had a chance to raise the alarm before being dealt with. It made Daud infinitely glad he hadn't decided to do this job alone.

After stashing the two lovebirds in a broom closet, Daud made his way down to the second floor. He spotted one of his Whalers dragging another body into a spare room. Judging from the lack of blood spilt, Daud assumed that the young maid was just unconscious. Probably for the best really. They hadn't been hired to do any of this so killing the servants would just bring unwanted attention from the Watch their way. Daud peered around a corner in the hall and almost smiled at the sight of two Whalers perched on furniture while another guard wandered near. He was taken out without a problem, but the Whalers barely got him pulled out of the way when another guard came out from a bathroom just across the corridor.

Daud could see trouble beginning to brew when the Guard looked around in confusion. "Declan? Where'd you run off to this time? I'm not covering for you this time. Declan!"

Daud loaded a sleep dart and quickly fired it off, hoping that no maid or guard happened to be heading their way as it hit. The Guard fell to the ground in a heap, and Daud hurried over to push him back into the bathroom. He jammed the lock once the guard was hidden away and then headed further down the hallway.

Just as Daud was reaching the door to the study, Rinaldo appeared beside him. "He's not in there, Master. He's in the dining room."

"Of course. Well fine. Let's go."

Rinaldo grabbed Daud's arm before he could get up, however. "We have a slight problem."

Daud frowned at that. "What kind of problem?"

"He has a couple Overseers over for dinner... and they brought their mutts."

Daud scowled darkly. "What the hell is he doing having dinner with Overseers?" he all but hissed. A criminal like Paulou had no business whatsoever being friendly with the often overzealous chief religious enforcers of Gristol.

"Making 'generous donations' apparently," Rinaldo drawled.

"Payoffs. Of course," Daud grumbled. "Do the Overseers look like they'll be leaving anytime soon?"

"Not really. Stiff-necked bastards seem to be talking about settling in for drinks in the parlor soon."

Daud's eyebrow went up at that. "Drinks, huh? Well, it would be a shame if something unwanted slipped into their alcohol..." he mused aloud.

Rinaldo smirked. "It would indeed. I'll go make sure it's done," he said with a slight bow.

After Rinaldo had left, Daud peered into the lock in front of him. True, his target wasn't inside but that didn't mean Daud couldn't go ransack his office anyway. Maybe he'd find something worthwhile. Daud didn't spot anyone inside the room and quickly went inside. There was a safe in the corner that the Master Assassin made a direct line towards. Breaking the safe took a little trial and error since he didn't have the combination right there, but Daud was able to so without too much trouble. Inside the safe, there were several large golden bars and a necklace that had an expensive cameo on it.

He cleaned out the safe and closed the door back up before heading to the desk. Daud quickly searched the papers scattered on top. There wasn't really any significant information. Mostly bills for the house and grounds. Some bills for some truly extravagant food items and something called a Personal Health Assistant were also in the mix. Daud scowled darkly at all the numbers. Apparently, he was living the high-life off of the profit he got from selling little Shadow. Daud felt like another case of arson might be called for.

Daud was rifling through the different drawers in the desk when Thomas appeared beside the desk in a cloud of smoke. "Sir. The target has headed into the parlor with his guests. We have men outside the room ready to move."

"Good. I'll be right there."

Thomas gave a bit of a bow and flitted off. Daud paused when he opened the bottom drawer of the desk and moved aside some papers. At the bottom, he found a very basic and battered pocket watch. Something a poor man would have rather than a man living in a mansion. It seemed an odd thing to have in a desk of someone who was so enamored with wealth. He would figure Paulou would throw old things away to get newer shinier models. Unless, perhaps, it had some sort of sentimental value? 

Daud picked up the watch and flicked open the lid. The front glass of the watch was cracked, and the hands had stopped. Daud closed the watch again and flipped it over. The back was plain, save for a signal line of engraved text. _To the best husband and father. With all my love, -P._

The Master Assassin stared at the delicately carved lines for a moment before pocketing the watch. He knew for a fact that Paulou had never been married so the watch couldn't possibly belong to him. And the 'P' that apparently sent the gift was very unlikely to be Paulou himself. That engraving sounded very much like it came from a wife. The watch was an interesting riddle that Daud would figure out at a later time. Devon would probably know. Daud pushed the drawer closed and headed down to the parlor.

There were no maids or guards left wandering around by this time. All of them had systematically been dealt with and hidden away, so the only ones left awake were the ones in the parlor. The target and his Overseer guests. Daud paused at the end of the hall where Rinaldo was waiting for him. "Situation?"

"The dogs might be a slight problem," Rinaldo said. "There's three of them, all in the room. We'll have to wait until the men fall asleep and then take care of the dogs."

Daud nodded a little. "Are there any of our men in there?"

"Two," Rinaldo answered. "Mikel and Davis."

Well, that was at least good news. Mikel and Davis could handle the dogs once their owners were knocked out. "Tell the men to start getting the servants outside. I'm going to tear this place down," Daud said. At Rinaldo's curious look, Daud shrugged a little. "He bought it all with what he made off of Shadow's suffering. No reason for it to remain standing."

Rinaldo nodded in agreement and went to go tell the men of Daud's decision. Daud folded his arms over his chest and just waited. It took about ten minutes before he heard the distinct sound of crossbows being fired and the yelps of dogs. 

Mikel and Davis stepped outside the room just a minute later and looked around. They spotted Daud waiting and headed over. "Master, the target is sound asleep," Mikel said. "As are the Overseers."

"Good. Get the Overseers out of here. I'll deal with the target personally," Daud said as he started for the room. Mikel and Davis followed him and hauled the Overseers outside.

There were several minutes where Daud just eyed his target with disgust. The ex-pirate was a medium sized man with thin hair and a slightly lopsidedly trimmed beard. Daud grabbed the glass lying limply on the couch beside Paulou and put it on the coffee table. 

Daud grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him bodily out of the room. He didn't really care if he gave the man rug burn or bruises seeing how he wouldn't live long enough to even notice them. After a little bit of maneuvering and manhandling, Daud got the bastard into a dining room chair and secured with a rope curtain tie.

While Daud waited for the ex-pirate to wake up, the other Whalers finished moving all the people outside so that at the end of this the only one that would 'tragically' be caught in the fire was Paulou.

Eventually, the ass did wake up, though, it did take much longer than Daud had wanted. By that time, the dining room was filled with Whalers perched on various pieces of furniture around the chamber. At hearing the groan from his target, Daud put the old pocket watch he'd again been examining back in his pocket. "Well, finally awake, are you?" he asked, getting up to stand directly in front of the man.

Paulou tried to move but found very quickly that he couldn't. His watery brown eyes widened at the sight of Daud, and he tried again with the same results.

"I wouldn't bother with that. Rinaldo's _very_ good with knots," Daud said. 

Rinaldo bowed slightly towards Daud. "Always a pleasure, Master."

Paulou didn't let the advice stop him from struggling. "What do you want? Someone hired you? I can pay you more!"

"Nobody hired us," Daud said. "We're doing this job pro bono, as it were."

"P-pro bono?"

"That's right. You're a waste of space. I'm glad to do it," Daud said as he pulled out a knife.

"Whoa! Hold on! I haven't done anything to you! I never even met you!" Paulou said, panicking now that a weapon had been drawn. "It's not like I hired you and skipped payment!"

Daud scowled a little. "No. You didn't do anything to me... but I know someone you did do something to." Paulou blinked, a little confused and somewhat worried. "Maybe you remember him... after all, _you_ sold him to a pervert named Puttock."

Paulou blinked again. "T-the kid? What do you care!?"

Daud brought the knife closer. "He's seven!" he hissed.

"It's not like he's your kid!"

"Like that fuckin' matters!" one of the Whalers cried in outrage.

Daud glanced behind him at the one that had the outburst, and the man reluctantly settled again. "You're going to tell me everything you know about the kid. Where did you take him from? What's his name?"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because then you won't be in _quite_ as much pain when you die," Daud said. "So, I suggest you start talking."

Paulou locked his jaw, and a defiant look came over him. Daud narrowed his eyes and flipped his knife in his hand a few times. "I was kind of hoping you'd be difficult," he admitted as he started for the man.

Daud only ended up needing to slowly peel half the skin off the bastard's privates for Paulou to start blurting it all out. The whole unpleasant story. The tears made it hard to decipher certain parts of the sordid tale, but Daud understood enough. 

There hadn't been any particular reason why Paulou had picked Shadow other than he noticed when Shadow had stopped in a crowd to look at something. Paulou had grabbed him right out of the crowd without the other people he'd been walking with noticing and taken him to the ship. They'd sailed out before Sneak's family could even truly begin a search for him. Daud demanded to know what Shadow's name was but Paulou couldn't provide much. Just that he thought one of the people the kid had been walking with called him something that might have start with a B... or maybe a G... possibly an E. So, nothing really at all.

Paulou blubbered more and louder when Daud asked about Shadow's attempt to escape. Daud wasn't too broken up when he sliced a bit more flesh off the pervert to get him to actually talk rather than whine and cry. He confessed to a bit more than Daud had been prepared for. He went into way too many sickening details about what he'd done to the Sneak and what he'd forced the child to do in return. After two straight days of sexual depravity, it was no wonder why the kid had stopped talking.

Daud did manage to wring the name of the town Paulou took Shadow out of from the bastard. Messal. Daud had never heard of it, which just confirmed how tiny it must be. It may not even be a town at all but a district if it was close enough to Karnaca. Daud would have to look it up. Paulou confessed he'd only gone there looking for a kid because there had been a festival going on and a lot of people were bound to be there. And lots of kids specifically. Otherwise, he would have taken a street kid from Karnaca itself.

Once he was certain there was no other information he could get from the man, Daud finished his slow castration of the bastard and then signaled his men to leave. Paulou was moaning in pain where he was still tied to his chair with a blood-drenched hole in his pants. 

As Daud went to the nearby fireplace he asked one last question, "Why did Puttock go to you to kidnap a child? Have you done it before?"

Paulou sniffed miserably and shook his head. "No... but I owed him a favor."

"I thought he paid you?"

"H-he... he gave me a cut of what his friends paid him," Paulou whimpered. "H-he had a whole bunch of them... I-I can give you names."

"I already dealt with them," Daud said as he pulled a burning log out of the fire. "And your crew. You, I saved for last."

"W-why?"

Daud turned and went back to where his target was slowly bleeding all over the expensive carpet. "Because you were the first to touch that boy," Daud said. "And then threw him to those bastards without a second thought. Puttock was a pervert... but he couldn't have done anything if it weren't for _you_."

Paulou's eyes widened, and he began to sputter, but Daud had enough of him. He got up and tossed the burning log against the curtains. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get plenty of the same treatment in the afterlife too," Daud called back to him as he left through the door. If there was any sort of afterlife and if it were just he would anyway. Paulou screamed and cried for Daud to come back, but the Master Assassin ignored it with absolute satisfaction. 

Daud landed back outside on the fence and watched with his men as the small fire quickly grew to engulf the whole mansion. "All of you... forget what you heard about what he did to the kid," Daud said. He got a murmured assent at that. He didn't think Shadow would be all that happy to realize that people knew what had happened to him on that ship.

"It's getting late," Rinaldo said after about half an hour of watching the fire.

"Right. Let's head back," Daud agreed. The fire was still raging, but by this time Daud was certain that his target was dead. Either suffocated on the smoke, burnt to a crisp in the flames, or bled out from his messy castration. All three were painful and drawn out deaths, and Daud didn't mind whichever it ultimately ended up being. He was definitely dead by that point, and that was what mattered. 

The assassins made their way back to their base, and for the first time since he'd found Shadow, Daud felt at ease again. There was still a lot to do to help the kid out, but at least the whole ring of perverts and their supplier had been dealt with. No other kids would have to suffer in such a way. After a few more orders to his men, Daud dismissed them and headed to his rooms. He would have to check on Shadow in a few minutes, but he wanted to wash the blood off his knife first.

He only made it halfway there when Rulfio found him. "Master Daud!"

Judging from the nearly panicked look on the other man's face, Daud was instantly on alert. He'd left Rulfio here to look after the kids since Rulfio was the only other adult that Shadow seemed to tolerate. "What is it?"

"We can't find the Sneak!"

Daud whipped around fully. "What!? Explain!"

"He and Quinn snuck into Devon's room. At first, I thought it was alright when I found them. Shadow didn't seem scared or anything, but he was hanging back. I kept an eye on him. Everything was... tense but not really alarming," Rulfio explained. "Then he slipped away again. You know, like he always does, but we haven't been able to find him anywhere. Not even Quinn can find him!"

Several curses escaped as Daud spun around to go look himself. After only a few moments, all of the Whalers banded together and searched the hideout top to bottom. They quickly established that Shadow was indeed nowhere to be found. Daud was beside himself as he ran from the base towards the kid's favorite vantage point. The tower was the only other spot he could think to look for him. He really hoped to find Shadow there. The streets of Dunwall were absolutely no place for a traumatized mute boy.

He made it to the tower and was bitterly disappointed and even more worried to not see the kid anywhere. Now, he was completely out of places to look. Daud scowled at the water in the distance and the steadily growing twilight. It would only be about twenty minutes or so before night fully fell. He needed to find Shadow before then because well... because!

There was the sound of a Transversal nearby and Daud looked over to see Thomas standing there. "He's not here either?" 

"Obviously not," Daud growled.

Thomas shifted his weight to his other leg. "Should we start sweeping the city, sir?"

Daud frowned. "Yes," he said. "Keep it to this area. I don't think he'd get too far away."

“Sir.”

The Leader of the Whalers barely paid attention as Thomas Transversed away. He kept wracking his brain for any other place he might have missed. Where else would the kid actually go? Not really expecting to find anything, Daud let his eyes scan the nearby buildings. 

As his eyes swept the landscape something brightly colored between the buildings caught Daud’s eye. He turned his head more fully that way and tried to figure out what it was. A moment of thought later and Daud remembered that there was a park over that way. He ignored it for the most part since it was half falling down and never actually used by anyone. The bright color was the metal top of the fake castle that was in the center of a sand pit. He had absolutely no idea if Shadow even knew it existed or not, but he had no other places to look, so Daud made his way over there.

When Daud got closer, he sighed a little. He knew better than to expect to see the kid but he had still felt a little hope starting to build. But sure enough, there wasn’t anyone here. Just a bunch of birds clustered near the far side of the castle. “Foolish,” Daud scolded himself as he began to turn back.

The birds suddenly fluttered and cawed at each other, bringing Daud’s attention back to the park. The animals seemed to be fighting over something. As Daud tried to figure out what he was seeing, a little speck of white flew through the air to land amid the creatures. They instantly started fighting over whatever it was. Now very curious, Daud carefully made his way over. The birds scattered but landed not too far away as Daud appeared on the inner platform of the castle where he had not been able to clearly see before.

He was actually a little surprised to see Shadow perched on the open edge with a hunk of torn apart bread in his hands. Daud had convinced himself that the kid was nowhere around so was taken aback when proved wrong. The birds fluttered back over after a minute of stillness and another few bits of bread flung their way. Daud let the silence continue for a little while.

Shadow didn’t even look at him. “You shouldn’t have run off,” Daud said finally. “We were worried about you,” he said as he slowly sat down beside the kid. Shadow just tore off another piece of bread and tossed it to the birds. Daud was surprised the presence of food hadn’t attracted the attention of any rats yet. “You don’t like the bread?”

That, at least, got a shrug. 

Daud nodded a little and let the silence return. The sky was quickly getting darker though so he’d have to take the boy in soon. “Does Devon bother you?” he asked. He resisted the urge to offer to kill the man. Probably wouldn’t help the kid to blurt that out.

Shadow shook his head and rolled a piece of bread into a large ball. Then he flicked it into the mass of birds. Daud nodded a little and suddenly had an idea. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the watch. He hadn’t confirmed who it belonged to, but he had a sneaking suspicion. He held it out by the chain, and it glinted slightly in the dying light.

The Kid looked over, and Daud was proven right when his eyes widened. He dropped the bread and grabbed the watch instead. He quickly brought it close to his tiny chest and held it like it was the most precious thing in the world. Daud couldn’t quite help but smile a little as the watch was turned over in the kid’s hand and he traced the engraving there. “Your father’s?” The Sneak hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.

After a second, the Kid froze and slowly looked back up at Daud, apparently realizing that there shouldn’t be a way for Daud to have had it. Daud tried again for a comforting smile. “I was glad to get it back for you. You don’t have to worry about the man who stole it, though. He won’t be bothering you again.”

Shadow stared up at him for a moment before slowly nodding and turning his gaze back to the watch. Daud let him have his moment and turned his head back around. He resumed the activity of throwing bits of bread to the birds just to have something to do. They got scrappy with each other over a few pieces, and some were even chased off to land in a nearby tree. As the light from the setting sun got dimmer and dimmer, Daud’s eyes were beginning to have some trouble picking out just how many there were. They all sort of blended together in the darkness. It certainly didn’t help that they were all black. Kind of looked like a giant shadow on the ground.

Daud tilted his head in thought as he tossed the last bit of bread to the crows. “I thought up a name for you,” he said, glancing back down at the boy beside him. That announcement got some attention again. “Corvo. Like your friends down there. You kinda perch on things like one. Will that do?” The kid blinked but then, after a long moment, gave a slight nod. Daud smirked a bit. “Corvo it is. Now come on, we should head back.”

Daud got to his feet and helped his charge up as well. As they were heading back, the speakers over the whole of Dunwall crackled to life. “Attention citizens! Emperor Euhorn Kaldwin has announced that three days hence there shall be a citywide holiday to celebrate the completion of the Kaldwin Bridge! All businesses…” Daud grunted a little and stopped listening. The kids would be begging to go to _that_ he was sure. He glanced down at the newly named Corvo and resigned himself that maybe a holiday _was_ in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **BAM! It was Corvo all along!**
> 
>  
> 
> Did anyone see that coming?
> 
> So, I would like it pointed out here that I never once said _which_ Lord Protector was looking for Daud nor who was in power on the throne. Or even an age for Daud or the other Whalers. Nor did I say what hideout they had to flee from only that they did. The only thing that was sort of notably incorrect is calling the Assassins 'Whalers' before the rat plague and that was more simply because I had no idea what else to call them. They just... are the Whalers in my head.
> 
> I do have a whole head canon for this verse and I might even write it. But not right now. For now this is done. Feel free to freak out in the comments or whatever! And no, I'm not adding a Corvo tag because that would ruin the fun.


End file.
